fix migration issue

Signed-off-by: Shawn Yuan <shuai.yuan.zju@gmail.com>

.github/actions/spell-check/excludes.txt

@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
 ^src/common/notifications/BackgroundActivatorDLL/cpp\.hint$
 ^src/common/sysinternals/Eula/
 ^src/modules/cmdpal/doc/initial-sdk-spec/list-elements-mock-002\.pdn$
+^src/modules/cmdpal/ext/SamplePagesExtension/Pages/SampleMarkdownImagesPage\.cs$
 ^src/modules/colorPicker/ColorPickerUI/Shaders/GridShader\.cso$
 ^src/modules/launcher/Plugins/Microsoft\.PowerToys\.Run\.Plugin\.TimeDate/Properties/
 ^src/modules/MouseUtils/MouseJumpUI/MainForm\.resx$

.github/actions/spell-check/expect.txt

@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ Allmodule
 ALLOWUNDO
 ALLVIEW
 ALPHATYPE
-amazonbedrock
 AModifier
 amr
 ANDSCANS
@@ -66,6 +65,7 @@ APIIs
 Apm
 APPBARDATA
 APPEXECLINK
+appext
 APPLICATIONFRAMEHOST
 appmanifest
 APPMODEL
@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ ATX
 ATRIOX
 aumid
 authenticode
-Authenticode
 AUTOBUDDY
 AUTOCHECKBOX
 AUTOHIDE
@@ -142,7 +141,7 @@ bla
 BLACKFRAME
 BLENDFUNCTION
 Blockquotes
-Blt
+blt
 BLURBEHIND
 BLURREGION
 bmi
@@ -188,6 +187,7 @@ CAPTUREBLT
 CAPTURECHANGED
 CARETBLINKING
 CAtl
+CBN
 cch
 CCHDEVICENAME
 CCHFORMNAME
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ CURSORINFO
 cursorpos
 CURSORSHOWING
 CURSORWRAP
-CursorWrap
 customaction
 CUSTOMACTIONTEST
 CUSTOMFORMATPLACEHOLDER
@@ -416,6 +415,9 @@ DNLEN
 DONOTROUND
 DONTVALIDATEPATH
 dotnet
+downsampled
+downsampling
+Downsampled
 downscale
 DPICHANGED
 DPIs
@@ -432,7 +434,6 @@ DSTINVERT
 DString
 DSVG
 dto
-DTo
 DUMMYUNIONNAME
 dutil
 DVASPECT
@@ -466,7 +467,6 @@ EDITKEYBOARD
 EDITSHORTCUTS
 EDITTEXT
 EFile
-ekus
 eku
 emojis
 ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
@@ -602,6 +602,7 @@ getfilesiginforedist
 geolocator
 GETHOTKEY
 GETICON
+GETLBTEXT
 GETMINMAXINFO
 GETNONCLIENTMETRICS
 GETPROPERTYSTOREFLAGS
@@ -609,6 +610,7 @@ GETSCREENSAVERRUNNING
 GETSECKEY
 GETSTICKYKEYS
 GETTEXTLENGTH
+GIFs
 gitmodules
 GHND
 GMEM
@@ -619,6 +621,7 @@ GPOCA
 gpp
 gpu
 gradians
+grctlext
 Gridcustomlayout
 GSM
 gtm
@@ -692,7 +695,6 @@ hmonitor
 homies
 homljgmgpmcbpjbnjpfijnhipfkiclkd
 HOOKPROC
-huggingface
 HORZRES
 HORZSIZE
 Hostbackdropbrush
@@ -1152,7 +1154,6 @@ NONCLIENTMETRICSW
 NONELEVATED
 nonspace
 nonstd
-nullrefs
 NOOWNERZORDER
 NOPARENTNOTIFY
 NOPREFIX
@@ -1192,8 +1193,8 @@ ntfs
 NTSTATUS
 NTSYSAPI
 NULLCURSOR
-nullref
 nullonfailure
+nullref
 numberbox
 nwc
 ocr
@@ -1872,6 +1873,7 @@ UPDATENOW
 UPDATEREGISTRY
 updown
 UPGRADINGPRODUCTCODE
+upscaling
 Uptool
 urld
 Usb

.github/actions/spell-check/patterns.txt

@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ _SILENCE_STDEXT_ARR_ITERS_DEPRECATION_WARNING
 
 # hit-count: 1 file-count: 1
 # Amazon
-\bamazon\.com/[-\w]+/(?:dp/[0-9A-Z]+|)[^"'\s]+
+\bamazon\.com/[-\w]+/(?:dp/[0-9A-Z]+|)
 
 # hit-count: 3 file-count: 3
 # imgur

.pipelines/v2/release.yml

@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ extends:
       name: SHINE-INT-S
       ${{ if eq(parameters.useVSPreview, true) }}:
         demands: ImageOverride -equals SHINE-VS17-Preview
-      ${{ else }}:
-        image: SHINE-VS17-Latest
       os: windows
     sdl:
       tsa:
@@ -75,7 +73,6 @@ extends:
                 name: SHINE-INT-L
                 demands:
                   # Our INT agents have a large disk mounted at P:\
-                  - WorkFolder -equals P:\_work
                   - ${{ if eq(parameters.useVSPreview, true) }}:
                     - ImageOverride -equals SHINE-VS17-Preview
                 os: windows
@@ -126,7 +123,6 @@ extends:
             parameters:
               pool:
                 name: SHINE-INT-L
-                image: SHINE-VS17-Latest
                 os: windows
               official: true
               codeSign: true

.pipelines/v2/templates/job-build-project.yml

@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ jobs:
             ${{ else }}:
               OutputBuildPlatform: ${{ platform }}
   variables:
+    NUGET_PACKAGES: 'C:\NuGetPackages' # Some of our build steps cache these here... and it was apparently part of the global environment
     MakeAppxPath: 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.26100.0\x86\MakeAppx.exe'
     # Azure DevOps abhors a vacuum
     # If these are blank, expansion will fail later on... which will result in direct substitution of the variable *names*
@@ -139,6 +140,10 @@ jobs:
     - output: pipelineArtifact
       artifactName: $(JobOutputArtifactName)
       targetPath: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)
+    - output: pipelineArtifact
+      artifactName: $(JobOutputArtifactName)-failure-$(System.JobAttempt)
+      targetPath: $(LogOutputDirectory)
+      condition: or(failed(), canceled())
   steps:
   - checkout: self
     clean: true
@@ -395,7 +400,7 @@ jobs:
   ### HACK: On ARM64 builds, building an app with Windows App SDK copies the x64 WebView2 dll instead of the ARM64 one. This task makes sure the right dll is used.
   - task: CopyFiles@2
     displayName: HACK Copy core WebView2 ARM64 dll to output directory
-    condition: eq(variables['BuildPlatform'],'arm64')
+    condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['BuildPlatform'], 'arm64'))
     inputs:
       contents: packages/Microsoft.Web.WebView2.1.0.2903.40/runtimes/win-ARM64/native_uap/Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Core.dll
       targetFolder: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/ARM64/Release/WinUI3Apps/
@@ -434,11 +439,11 @@ jobs:
       inputs:
         testResultsFormat: VSTest
         testResultsFiles: '**/*.trx'
-      condition: ne(variables['BuildPlatform'],'arm64')
+      condition: and(succeeded(), ne(variables['BuildPlatform'], 'arm64'))
 
     # Native dlls
     - task: VSTest@2
-      condition: ne(variables['BuildPlatform'],'arm64') # No arm64 agents to run the tests.
+      condition: and(succeeded(), ne(variables['BuildPlatform'], 'arm64')) # No arm64 agents to run the tests.
       displayName: 'Native Tests'
       inputs:
         platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'

Cpp.Build.props

@@ -1,56 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <Project ToolsVersion="4.0"
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
-  <!-- Hybrid CRT configuration -->
-  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(HybridCrtConfiguration)'==''">
-    <HybridCrtConfiguration>$(Configuration)</HybridCrtConfiguration>
-  </PropertyGroup>
-
-  <!-- Skip Hybrid CRT for AppContainer/UWP projects as they require MultiThreadedDLL -->
-  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(AppContainerApplication)'=='true' and '$(_VC_Target_Library_Platform)'!='Desktop'">
-    <HybridCrtConfiguration></HybridCrtConfiguration>
-  </PropertyGroup>
-
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(HybridCrtConfiguration)'=='Debug'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <!-- We use MultiThreadedDebug, rather than MultiThreadedDebugDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140d.dll and MSVCP140d.dll. -->
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
-    </ClCompile>
-    <Link>
-      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
-           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
-           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
-           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
-      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrtd.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
-      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrtd.lib</AdditionalOptions>
-    </Link>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(HybridCrtConfiguration)'=='Release'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <!-- We use MultiThreaded, rather than MultiThreadedDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll. -->
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
-    </ClCompile>
-    <Link>
-      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
-           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
-           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
-           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
-      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrt.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
-      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrt.lib</AdditionalOptions>
-    </Link>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-
-  <!-- AppContainer/UWP projects must use MultiThreadedDLL -->
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(AppContainerApplication)'=='true' and '$(_VC_Target_Library_Platform)'!='Desktop' And '$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
-    </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
-  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(AppContainerApplication)'=='true' and '$(_VC_Target_Library_Platform)'!='Desktop' And '$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
-    <ClCompile>
-      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
-    </ClCompile>
-  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
 
   <!-- Project configurations -->
   <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
@@ -123,6 +73,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -132,6 +83,7 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

DATA_AND_PRIVACY.md

@@ -147,6 +147,18 @@ _If you want to find diagnostic data events in the source code, these two links
     <td>Microsoft.PowerToys.AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent</td>
     <td>Triggered when Advanced Paste leverages the Semantic Kernel.</td>
   </tr> 
+  <tr>
+    <td>Microsoft.PowerToys.AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelErrorEvent</td>
+    <td>Occurs when the Semantic Kernel workflow encounters an error.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>Microsoft.PowerToys.AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent</td>
+    <td>Logs the AI provider, model, and processing duration for each endpoint call.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>Microsoft.PowerToys.AdvancedPasteCustomActionErrorEvent</td>
+    <td>Records provider, model, and status details when a custom action fails.</td>
+  </tr>
 </table>
 
 ### Always on Top

Directory.Packages.props

@@ -34,35 +34,33 @@
     <!-- Including MessagePack to force version, since it's used by StreamJsonRpc but contains vulnerabilities. After StreamJsonRpc updates the version of MessagePack, we can upgrade StreamJsonRpc instead. -->
     <PackageVersion Include="MessagePack" Version="3.1.3" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.NetAnalyzers" Version="9.0.0" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Data.Sqlite" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Data.Sqlite" Version="9.0.10" />
     <!-- Including Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces to force version, since it's used by Microsoft.SemanticKernel. -->
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Bcl.AsyncInterfaces" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT" Version="2.0.240111.5" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Diagnostics.Tracing.TraceEvent" Version="3.1.16" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.AI" Version="9.9.1" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.AI.OpenAI" Version="9.9.1-preview.1.25474.6" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.WindowsServices" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Abstractions" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.WindowsServices" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local" Version="0.3.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel" Version="1.66.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.OpenAI" Version="1.66.0" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Amazon" Version="1.66.0-alpha" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.AzureAIInference" Version="1.66.0-beta" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Google" Version="1.66.0-alpha" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.HuggingFace" Version="1.66.0-preview" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.MistralAI" Version="1.66.0-alpha" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Ollama" Version="1.66.0-alpha" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.Notifications" Version="7.1.2" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Web.WebView2" Version="1.0.3179.45" />
     <!-- Package Microsoft.Win32.SystemEvents added as a hack for being able to exclude the runtime assets so they don't conflict with 8.0.1. This is a dependency of System.Drawing.Common but the 8.0.1 version wasn't published to nuget. -->
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Win32.SystemEvents" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Win32.SystemEvents" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.WindowsPackageManager.ComInterop" Version="1.10.340" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Windows.Compatibility" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Windows.Compatibility" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32" Version="0.3.183" />
     <!-- CsWinRT version needs to be set to have a WinRT.Runtime.dll at the same version contained inside the NET SDK we're currently building on CI. -->
     <!-- 
@@ -95,29 +93,29 @@
     <PackageVersion Include="StreamJsonRpc" Version="2.21.69" />
     <PackageVersion Include="StyleCop.Analyzers" Version="1.2.0-beta.556" />
     <!-- Package System.CodeDom added as a hack for being able to exclude the runtime assets so they don't conflict with 8.0.1. This is a dependency of System.Management but the 8.0.1 version wasn't published to nuget. -->
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.CodeDom" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.CodeDom" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.CommandLine" Version="2.0.0-beta4.22272.1" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Data.OleDb" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Data.OleDb" Version="9.0.10" />
     <!-- Package System.Data.SqlClient added to force it as a dependency of Microsoft.Windows.Compatibility to the latest version available at this time. -->
     <PackageVersion Include="System.Data.SqlClient" Version="4.9.0" />
     <!-- Package System.Diagnostics.EventLog added as a hack for being able to exclude the runtime assets so they don't conflict with 8.0.1. This is a dependency of System.Data.OleDb but the 8.0.1 version wasn't published to nuget. -->
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Diagnostics.EventLog" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Diagnostics.EventLog" Version="9.0.10" />
     <!-- Package System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter added as a hack for being able to exclude the runtime assets so they don't conflict with 8.0.11. -->
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.ClientModel" Version="1.7.0" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.IO.Abstractions" Version="22.0.13" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.IO.Abstractions.TestingHelpers" Version="22.0.13" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Management" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Management" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.Net.Http" Version="4.3.4" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.Private.Uri" Version="4.3.2" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.Reactive" Version="6.0.1" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Runtime.Caching" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Text.Encoding.CodePages" Version="9.0.8" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="System.Text.Json" Version="9.0.8" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Runtime.Caching" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Text.Encoding.CodePages" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="System.Text.Json" Version="9.0.10" />
     <PackageVersion Include="System.Text.RegularExpressions" Version="4.3.1" />
     <PackageVersion Include="UnicodeInformation" Version="2.6.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="UnitsNet" Version="5.56.0" />

README.md

@@ -7,19 +7,23 @@
 <h1 align="center">
   <span>Microsoft PowerToys</span>
 </h1>
-
+<p align="center">
+  <span align="center">Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities that help you customize Windows and streamline everyday tasks.</span>
+</p>
 <h3 align="center">
   <a href="#-installation">Installation</a>
-  <span> . </span>
+  <span> · </span>
   <a href="https://aka.ms/powertoys-docs">Documentation</a>
-  <span> . </span>
+  <span> · </span>
   <a href="https://aka.ms/powertoys-releaseblog">Blog</a>
-  <span> . </span>
+  <span> · </span>
   <a href="#-whats-new">Release notes</a>
 </h3>
 <br/><br/>
-Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities that help you customize Windows and streamline everyday tasks.
-<br/><br/>
+
+## 🔨 Utilities
+
+PowerToys includes over 25 utilities to help you customize and optimize your Windows experience:
 
 |   |   |   |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -37,20 +41,13 @@ Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of utilities that help you customize Windows
 
 ## 📋 Installation
 
-For detailed installation instructions, visit the [installation docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/powertoys/install). 
-
-Before you begin, make sure your device meets the system requirements:
-
-> [!NOTE]
-> - Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 (20H1 / build 19041) or newer
-> - 64-bit processor: x64 or ARM64
-> - Latest stable version of [Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=2124703) is installed via the bootstrapper during setup
-
-Choose one of the installation methods below:
+For detailed installation instructions and system requirements, visit the [installation docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/powertoys/install). 
 
+But to get started quickly, choose one of the installation methods below:
+<br/><br/>
 <details open>
-<summary>Download .exe from GitHub</summary>
-
+<summary><strong>Download .exe from GitHub</strong></summary>
+<br/>
 Go to the [PowerToys GitHub releases][github-release-link], click Assets to reveal the downloads, and choose the installer that matches your architecture and install scope. For most devices, that's the x64 per-user installer.
 
 <!-- items that need to be updated release to release -->
@@ -67,11 +64,11 @@ Go to the [PowerToys GitHub releases][github-release-link], click Assets to reve
 | Per user - ARM64     | [PowerToysUserSetup-0.95.1-arm64.exe][ptUserArm64] |
 | Machine wide - x64   | [PowerToysSetup-0.95.1-x64.exe][ptMachineX64] |
 | Machine wide - ARM64 | [PowerToysSetup-0.95.1-arm64.exe][ptMachineArm64] |
-
 </details>
 
 <details>
-<summary>Microsoft Store</summary>
+<summary><strong>Microsoft Store</strong></summary>
+<br/>
 You can easily install PowerToys from the Microsoft Store:
 <p>
   <a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://aka.ms/getPowertoys">
@@ -82,10 +79,9 @@ You can easily install PowerToys from the Microsoft Store:
 </p>
 </details>
 
-
 <details>
-<summary>WinGet</summary>
-
+<summary><strong>WinGet</strong></summary>
+<br/>
 Download PowerToys from [WinGet][winget-link]. Updating PowerToys via winget will respect the current PowerToys installation scope. To install PowerToys, run the following command from the command line / PowerShell:
 
 *User scope installer [default]*
@@ -100,8 +96,8 @@ winget install --scope machine Microsoft.PowerToys -s winget
 </details>
 
 <details>
-<summary>Other methods</summary>
-
+<summary><strong>Other methods</strong></summary>
+<br/>
 There are [community driven install methods](./doc/unofficialInstallMethods.md) such as Chocolatey and Scoop. If these are your preferred install solutions, you can find the install instructions there.
 </details>
 

installer/PowerToysSetupCustomActionsVNext/PowerToysSetupCustomActionsVNext.vcxproj

@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;CUSTOMACTIONTEST_EXPORTS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;CUSTOMACTIONTEST_EXPORTS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>

installer/PowerToysSetupVNext/Directory.Build.props

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 <Project>
-  <Import Project="..\..\Directory.Build.props" Condition="Exists('..\..\Directory.Build.props')" />
   <Import Project="..\..\src\Version.props" Condition="Exists('..\..\src\Version.props')" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Set BaseIntermediateOutputPath for each project to avoid conflicts -->
@@ -9,4 +8,4 @@
     <!-- Set MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath to use the BaseIntermediateOutputPath -->
     <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition="'$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)' != ''">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
-</Project>
+</Project>

installer/PowerToysSetupVNext/Product.wxs

@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@
 
       <Custom Action="SetUnApplyModulesRegistryChangeSetsParam" Before="UnApplyModulesRegistryChangeSets" />
       <Custom Action="CheckGPO" After="InstallInitialize" Condition="NOT Installed" />
-      <Custom Action="SetBundleInstallLocationData" Before="SetBundleInstallLocation" Condition="NOT Installed" />
-      <Custom Action="SetBundleInstallLocation" After="InstallFiles" Condition="NOT Installed" />
+      <Custom Action="SetBundleInstallLocationData" Before="SetBundleInstallLocation" Condition="NOT Installed OR WIX_UPGRADE_DETECTED" />
+      <Custom Action="SetBundleInstallLocation" After="InstallFiles" Condition="NOT Installed OR WIX_UPGRADE_DETECTED" />
       <Custom Action="ApplyModulesRegistryChangeSets" After="InstallFiles" Condition="NOT Installed" />
       <Custom Action="InstallCmdPalPackage" After="InstallFiles" Condition="NOT Installed" />
       <Custom Action="InstallPackageIdentityMSIX" After="InstallFiles" Condition="NOT Installed" />

installer/PowerToysSetupVNext/SilentFilesInUseBA/SilentFilesInUseBAFunction.vcxproj

@@ -1,7 +1,30 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<!-- Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and contributors. All rights reserved. Licensed under the Microsoft Reciprocal License. See LICENSE.TXT file in the project root for full license information. -->
+
 <Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
+  <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
+    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|ARM64">
+      <Configuration>Debug</Configuration>
+      <Platform>ARM64</Platform>
+    </ProjectConfiguration>
+    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|ARM64">
+      <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
+      <Platform>ARM64</Platform>
+    </ProjectConfiguration>
+    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Debug|x64">
+      <Configuration>Debug</Configuration>
+      <Platform>x64</Platform>
+    </ProjectConfiguration>
+    <ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|x64">
+      <Configuration>Release</Configuration>
+      <Platform>x64</Platform>
+    </ProjectConfiguration>
+  </ItemGroup>
+
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
     <ProjectGuid>{F8B9F842-F5C3-4A2D-8C85-7F8B9E2B4F1D}</ProjectGuid>
+    <ConfigurationType>DynamicLibrary</ConfigurationType>
+    <CharacterSet>Unicode</CharacterSet>
     <TargetName>SilentFilesInUseBAFunction</TargetName>
     <ProjectName>PowerToysSetupCustomActionsVNext</ProjectName>
     <ProjectModuleDefinitionFile>bafunctions.def</ProjectModuleDefinitionFile>
@@ -10,6 +33,7 @@
 
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" />
   
+  <!-- Configuration-specific property groups -->
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'" Label="Configuration">
     <ConfigurationType>DynamicLibrary</ConfigurationType>
     <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
@@ -41,10 +65,7 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <ClCompile Include="SilentFilesInUseBAFunctions.cpp">
-      <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
-      <PrecompiledHeaderFile>precomp.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
-    </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile Include="SilentFilesInUseBAFunctions.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="bafunctions.cpp">
       <PrecompiledHeader>Create</PrecompiledHeader>
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>precomp.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
@@ -71,5 +92,31 @@
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
 
+  <!-- C++ source compile-specific things for Debug/Release configurations -->
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+      <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
+      <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
+      <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>
+      <OptimizeReferences>true</OptimizeReferences>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
 </Project>

installer/PowerToysSetupVNext/SilentFilesInUseBA/SilentFilesInUseBAFunctions.cpp

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ public: // IBootstrapperApplication
 
         BalLog(BOOTSTRAPPER_LOG_LEVEL_STANDARD, "*** CUSTOM BA FUNCTION SYSTEM ACTIVE *** Running detect begin BA function. fCached=%d, registrationType=%d, cPackages=%u, fCancel=%d", fCached, registrationType, cPackages, *pfCancel);
 
+    LExit:
         return hr;
     }
 
@@ -31,6 +32,12 @@ public: // IBAFunctions
 
         BalLog(BOOTSTRAPPER_LOG_LEVEL_STANDARD, "*** CUSTOM BA FUNCTION SYSTEM ACTIVE *** Running plan begin BA function. cPackages=%u, fCancel=%d", cPackages, *pfCancel);
 
+        //-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // YOUR CODE GOES HERE
+        // BalExitOnFailure(hr, "Change this message to represent real error handling.");
+        //-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    LExit:
         return hr;
     }
 
@@ -56,7 +63,6 @@ public: // IBAFunctions
         )
     {
         HRESULT hr = S_OK;
-        UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(source);
 
         BalLog(BOOTSTRAPPER_LOG_LEVEL_STANDARD, "*** CUSTOM BA FUNCTION CALLED *** Running OnExecuteFilesInUse BA function. packageId=%ls, cFiles=%u, recommendation=%d", wzPackageId, cFiles, nRecommendation);
         

src/common/CalculatorEngineCommon/CalculatorEngineCommon.vcxproj

@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
     <RootNamespace>CalculatorEngineCommon</RootNamespace>
     <AppxPackage>false</AppxPackage>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <!-- BEGIN common.build.pre.props -->
+  <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
+    <EnableHybridCRT>true</EnableHybridCRT>
+    <UseCrtSDKReferenceStaticWarning Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true'">false</UseCrtSDKReferenceStaticWarning>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <!-- END common.build.pre.props -->
   <!-- BEGIN cppwinrt.build.pre.props -->
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
     <CppWinRTEnabled>true</CppWinRTEnabled>
@@ -19,9 +25,11 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup>
     <MinimalCoreWin>true</MinimalCoreWin>
-    <AppContainerApplication>false</AppContainerApplication>
+    <AppContainerApplication>true</AppContainerApplication>
     <WindowsStoreApp>true</WindowsStoreApp>
     <ApplicationType>Windows Store</ApplicationType>
+    <UseCrtSDKReference Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true'">false</UseCrtSDKReference>
+    <!-- The SDK reference breaks the Hybrid CRT -->
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- We have to use the Desktop platform for Hybrid CRT to work. -->
@@ -140,5 +148,43 @@
     </PropertyGroup>
     <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props'))" />
     <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets'))" />
-  </Target>  <!-- END common.build.post.props -->
+  </Target>
+  <!-- BEGIN common.build.post.props -->
+  <!--
+    The Hybrid CRT model statically links the runtime and STL and dynamically
+    links the UCRT instead of the VC++ CRT. The UCRT ships with Windows.
+    WinAppSDK asserts that this is "supported according to the CRT maintainer."
+
+    This must come before Microsoft.Cpp.targets because it manipulates ClCompile.RuntimeLibrary.
+  -->
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true' and '$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreadedDebug, rather than MultiThreadedDebugDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140d.dll and MSVCP140d.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+      <LanguageStandard Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">stdcpp17</LanguageStandard>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrtd.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrtd.lib</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true' and ('$(Configuration)'=='Release' or '$(Configuration)'=='AuditMode')">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreaded, rather than MultiThreadedDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrt.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrt.lib</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <!-- END common.build.post.props -->
 </Project>

src/common/GPOWrapper/GPOWrapper.cpp

@@ -216,10 +216,6 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::GPOWrapper::implementation
     {
         return static_cast<GpoRuleConfigured>(powertoys_gpo::getAllowedAdvancedPasteGoogleValue());
     }
-    GpoRuleConfigured GPOWrapper::GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue()
-    {
-        return static_cast<GpoRuleConfigured>(powertoys_gpo::getAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue());
-    }
     GpoRuleConfigured GPOWrapper::GetAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue()
     {
         return static_cast<GpoRuleConfigured>(powertoys_gpo::getAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue());

src/common/GPOWrapper/GPOWrapper.h

@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::GPOWrapper::implementation
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAzureAIInferenceValue();
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteMistralValue();
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteGoogleValue();
-        static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue();
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue();
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteFoundryLocalValue();
         static GpoRuleConfigured GetConfiguredNewPlusEnabledValue();

src/common/GPOWrapper/GPOWrapper.idl

@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ namespace PowerToys
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAzureAIInferenceValue();
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteMistralValue();
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteGoogleValue();
-            static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue();
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue();
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetAllowedAdvancedPasteFoundryLocalValue();
             static GpoRuleConfigured GetConfiguredNewPlusEnabledValue();

src/common/UITestAutomation/SettingsConfigHelper.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text.Json;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library.Interfaces;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library.Utilities;
+
+namespace Microsoft.PowerToys.UITest
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Helper class for configuring PowerToys settings for UI tests.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class SettingsConfigHelper
+    {
+        private static readonly JsonSerializerOptions IndentedJsonOptions = new() { WriteIndented = true };
+        private static readonly SettingsUtils SettingsUtils = new SettingsUtils();
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Configures global PowerToys settings to enable only specified modules and disable all others.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="modulesToEnable">Array of module names to enable (e.g., "Peek", "FancyZones"). All other modules will be disabled.</param>
+        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">Thrown when modulesToEnable is null.</exception>
+        /// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">Thrown when settings file operations fail.</exception>
+        [UnconditionalSuppressMessage("Trimming", "IL2026", Justification = "This is test code and will not be trimmed")]
+        [UnconditionalSuppressMessage("AOT", "IL3050", Justification = "This is test code and will not be AOT compiled")]
+        public static void ConfigureGlobalModuleSettings(params string[] modulesToEnable)
+        {
+            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(modulesToEnable);
+
+            try
+            {
+                GeneralSettings settings;
+                try
+                {
+                    settings = SettingsUtils.GetSettingsOrDefault<GeneralSettings>();
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    Debug.WriteLine($"Failed to load settings, creating defaults: {ex.Message}");
+                    settings = new GeneralSettings();
+                }
+
+                string settingsJson = settings.ToJsonString();
+                using (JsonDocument doc = JsonDocument.Parse(settingsJson))
+                {
+                    var options = new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true };
+                    var root = doc.RootElement.Clone();
+
+                    if (root.TryGetProperty("enabled", out var enabledElement))
+                    {
+                        var enabledModules = new Dictionary<string, bool>();
+
+                        foreach (var property in enabledElement.EnumerateObject())
+                        {
+                            string moduleName = property.Name;
+
+                            bool shouldEnable = Array.Exists(modulesToEnable, m => string.Equals(m, moduleName, StringComparison.Ordinal));
+                            enabledModules[moduleName] = shouldEnable;
+                        }
+
+                        var settingsDict = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(settingsJson);
+                        if (settingsDict != null)
+                        {
+                            settingsDict["enabled"] = enabledModules;
+                            settingsJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(settingsDict, IndentedJsonOptions);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(settingsJson);
+
+                string enabledList = modulesToEnable.Length > 0 ? string.Join(", ", modulesToEnable) : "none";
+                Debug.WriteLine($"Successfully updated global settings");
+                Debug.WriteLine($"Enabled modules: {enabledList}");
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Debug.WriteLine($"ERROR in ConfigureGlobalModuleSettings: {ex.Message}");
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to configure global module settings: {ex.Message}", ex);
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Updates a module's settings file. If the file doesn't exist, creates it with default content.
+        /// If the file exists, reads it and applies the provided update function to modify the settings.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="moduleName">The name of the module (e.g., "Peek", "FancyZones").</param>
+        /// <param name="defaultSettingsContent">The default JSON content to use if the settings file doesn't exist.</param>
+        /// <param name="updateSettingsAction">
+        /// A callback function that modifies the settings dictionary. The function receives the deserialized settings
+        /// and should modify it in-place. The function should accept a Dictionary&lt;string, object&gt; and not return a value.
+        /// Example: (settings) => { ((Dictionary&lt;string, object&gt;)settings["properties"])["SomeSetting"] = newValue; }
+        /// </param>
+        /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">Thrown when moduleName or updateSettingsAction is null.</exception>
+        /// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">Thrown when settings file operations fail.</exception>
+        [UnconditionalSuppressMessage("Trimming", "IL2026", Justification = "This is test code and will not be trimmed")]
+        [UnconditionalSuppressMessage("AOT", "IL3050", Justification = "This is test code and will not be AOT compiled")]
+        public static void UpdateModuleSettings(
+            string moduleName,
+            string defaultSettingsContent,
+            Action<Dictionary<string, object>> updateSettingsAction)
+        {
+            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(moduleName);
+            ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(updateSettingsAction);
+
+            try
+            {
+                // Build the path to the module settings file
+                string powerToysSettingsDirectory = Path.Combine(
+                    Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData),
+                    "Microsoft",
+                    "PowerToys");
+
+                string moduleDirectory = Path.Combine(powerToysSettingsDirectory, moduleName);
+                string settingsPath = Path.Combine(moduleDirectory, "settings.json");
+
+                // Ensure directory exists
+                Directory.CreateDirectory(moduleDirectory);
+
+                // Read existing settings or use default
+                string existingJson = string.Empty;
+                if (File.Exists(settingsPath))
+                {
+                    existingJson = File.ReadAllText(settingsPath);
+                }
+
+                Dictionary<string, object>? settings;
+
+                // If file doesn't exist or is empty, create from defaults
+                if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(existingJson))
+                {
+                    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(defaultSettingsContent))
+                    {
+                        throw new ArgumentException("Default settings content must be provided when file doesn't exist.", nameof(defaultSettingsContent));
+                    }
+
+                    settings = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(defaultSettingsContent)
+                               ?? throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to deserialize default settings for {moduleName}");
+
+                    Debug.WriteLine($"Created default settings for {moduleName} at {settingsPath}");
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Parse existing settings
+                    settings = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(existingJson)
+                               ?? throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to deserialize existing settings for {moduleName}");
+
+                    Debug.WriteLine($"Loaded existing settings for {moduleName} from {settingsPath}");
+                }
+
+                // Apply the update action to modify settings
+                updateSettingsAction(settings);
+
+                // Serialize and save the updated settings using SettingsUtils
+                string updatedJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(settings, IndentedJsonOptions);
+                SettingsUtils.SaveSettings(updatedJson, moduleName);
+
+                Debug.WriteLine($"Successfully updated settings for {moduleName}");
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Debug.WriteLine($"ERROR in UpdateModuleSettings for {moduleName}: {ex.Message}");
+                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to update settings for {moduleName}: {ex.Message}", ex);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}

src/common/UITestAutomation/UITestAutomation.csproj

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
     <InvariantGlobalization>true</InvariantGlobalization>
-    <TargetFramework>net9.0-windows10.0.22621.0</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFramework>net9.0-windows10.0.26100.0</TargetFramework>
     <UseWindowsForms>true</UseWindowsForms>
     <PublishTrimmed>false</PublishTrimmed>
   </PropertyGroup>
@@ -21,4 +21,8 @@
     <PackageReference Include="CoenM.ImageSharp.ImageHash" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\settings-ui\Settings.UI.Library\Settings.UI.Library.csproj" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
 </Project>

src/common/interop/PowerToys.Interop.vcxproj

@@ -63,12 +63,14 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
     <ClCompile>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
       <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
       <LinkIncremental>true</LinkIncremental>
     </ClCompile>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
     <ClCompile>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <UseDebugLibraries>false</UseDebugLibraries>
       <WholeProgramOptimization>true</WholeProgramOptimization>
       <LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>

src/common/notifications/BackgroundActivator/BackgroundActivator.vcxproj

@@ -46,6 +46,16 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <TargetName>notifications</TargetName>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>
     <ClCompile>
       <PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>$(IntDir)pch.pch</PrecompiledHeaderOutputFile>

src/common/utils/gpo.h

@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ namespace powertoys_gpo
     const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_AZURE_AI_INFERENCE = L"AllowAdvancedPasteAzureAIInference";
     const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_MISTRAL = L"AllowAdvancedPasteMistral";
     const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_GOOGLE = L"AllowAdvancedPasteGoogle";
-    const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_ANTHROPIC = L"AllowAdvancedPasteAnthropic";
     const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_OLLAMA = L"AllowAdvancedPasteOllama";
     const std::wstring POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_FOUNDRY_LOCAL = L"AllowAdvancedPasteFoundryLocal";
     const std::wstring POLICY_MWB_CLIPBOARD_SHARING_ENABLED = L"MwbClipboardSharingEnabled";
@@ -615,11 +614,6 @@ namespace powertoys_gpo
         return getConfiguredValue(POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_GOOGLE);
     }
 
-    inline gpo_rule_configured_t getAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue()
-    {
-        return getConfiguredValue(POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_ANTHROPIC);
-    }
-
     inline gpo_rule_configured_t getAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue()
     {
         return getConfiguredValue(POLICY_ALLOW_ADVANCED_PASTE_OLLAMA);

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste.UnitTests/Mocks/IntegrationTestUserSettings.cs

@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ internal sealed class IntegrationTestUserSettings : IUserSettings
 
     public bool CloseAfterLosingFocus => false;
 
+    public bool EnableClipboardPreview => true;
+
     public IReadOnlyList<AdvancedPasteCustomAction> CustomActions => _customActions;
 
     public IReadOnlyList<PasteFormats> AdditionalActions => _additionalActions;

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste.csproj

@@ -59,10 +59,8 @@
     <PackageReference Include="CommunityToolkit.WinUI.Controls.Primitives" />
     <!-- Including MessagePack to force version, since it's used by StreamJsonRpc but contains vulnerabilities. After StreamJsonRpc updates the version of MessagePack, we can upgrade StreamJsonRpc instead. -->
     <PackageReference Include="MessagePack" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Amazon" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.AzureAIInference" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Google" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.HuggingFace" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.MistralAI" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Ollama" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting" />

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPasteXAML/App.xaml.cs

@@ -112,11 +112,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste
         /// Invoked when the application is launched.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="args">Details about the launch request and process.</param>
-#if DEBUG
-        protected async override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs args)
-#else
         protected override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs args)
-#endif
         {
             var cmdArgs = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
             if (cmdArgs?.Length > 1)
@@ -138,10 +134,6 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste
             {
                 ProcessNamedPipe(cmdArgs[2]);
             }
-
-#if DEBUG
-            await ShowWindow(); // This allows for direct access without using PowerToys Runner, not all functionality might work
-#endif
         }
 
         private void ProcessNamedPipe(string pipeName)

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPasteXAML/Controls/PromptBox.xaml

@@ -542,7 +542,10 @@
                             Source="{x:Bind ViewModel.ActiveAIProvider?.ServiceType, Mode=OneWay, Converter={StaticResource ServiceTypeToIconConverter}}" />
                     </DropDownButton.Content>
                     <DropDownButton.Flyout>
-                        <Flyout Placement="Bottom" ShouldConstrainToRootBounds="False">
+                        <Flyout
+                            Opened="AIProviderFlyout_Opened"
+                            Placement="Bottom"
+                            ShouldConstrainToRootBounds="False">
                             <Grid
                                 Width="386"
                                 Margin="-4"
@@ -608,10 +611,10 @@
                                                     CornerRadius="{StaticResource ControlCornerRadius}"
                                                     Visibility="{x:Bind IsLocalModel, Mode=OneWay}">
                                                     <TextBlock
+                                                        x:Uid="LocalModelBadge"
                                                         AutomationProperties.AccessibilityView="Raw"
                                                         FontSize="10"
-                                                        Foreground="{ThemeResource TextFillColorSecondaryBrush}"
-                                                        Text="Local" />
+                                                        Foreground="{ThemeResource TextFillColorSecondaryBrush}" />
                                                 </Border>
                                                 <!--<Border
                                                     Grid.Column="2"

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPasteXAML/Controls/PromptBox.xaml.cs

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Controls
     {
         public OptionsViewModel ViewModel { get; private set; }
 
+        private bool _syncingProviderSelection;
+
         public static readonly DependencyProperty PlaceholderTextProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
             nameof(PlaceholderText),
             typeof(string),
@@ -74,6 +76,11 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Controls
                 var state = ViewModel.IsBusy ? "LoadingState" : ViewModel.PasteActionError.HasText ? "ErrorState" : "DefaultState";
                 VisualStateManager.GoToState(this, state, true);
             }
+
+            if (e.PropertyName is nameof(ViewModel.ActiveAIProvider) or nameof(ViewModel.AIProviders))
+            {
+                SyncProviderSelection();
+            }
         }
 
         private void ViewModel_PreviewRequested(object sender, EventArgs e)
@@ -87,6 +94,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Controls
         private void Grid_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
         {
             InputTxtBox.Focus(FocusState.Programmatic);
+            SyncProviderSelection();
         }
 
         [RelayCommand]
@@ -126,18 +134,56 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Controls
             Loader.IsLoading = loading;
         }
 
+        private void SyncProviderSelection()
+        {
+            if (AIProviderListView is null)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            try
+            {
+                _syncingProviderSelection = true;
+                AIProviderListView.SelectedItem = ViewModel.ActiveAIProvider;
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                _syncingProviderSelection = false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void AIProviderFlyout_Opened(object sender, object e)
+        {
+            SyncProviderSelection();
+        }
+
         private async void AIProviderListView_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
         {
-            if (AIProviderListView.SelectedItem is PasteAIProviderDefinition provider)
+            if (_syncingProviderSelection)
             {
-                if (ViewModel.SetActiveProviderCommand.CanExecute(provider))
-                {
-                    await ViewModel.SetActiveProviderCommand.ExecuteAsync(provider);
-                }
-
-                var flyout = FlyoutBase.GetAttachedFlyout(AIProviderButton);
-                flyout?.Hide();
+                return;
             }
+
+            var flyout = FlyoutBase.GetAttachedFlyout(AIProviderButton);
+
+            if (AIProviderListView.SelectedItem is not PasteAIProviderDefinition provider)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if (string.Equals(ViewModel.ActiveAIProvider?.Id, provider.Id, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+            {
+                flyout?.Hide();
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if (ViewModel.SetActiveProviderCommand.CanExecute(provider))
+            {
+                await ViewModel.SetActiveProviderCommand.ExecuteAsync(provider);
+                SyncProviderSelection();
+            }
+
+            flyout?.Hide();
         }
     }
 }

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPasteXAML/Pages/MainPage.xaml

@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@
             BorderBrush="{ThemeResource CardStrokeColorDefaultBrush}"
             BorderThickness="1"
             CornerRadius="20"
-            Visibility="{x:Bind ViewModel.ClipboardHasData, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}, Mode=OneWay}">
+            Visibility="{x:Bind ViewModel.ShowClipboardPreview, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}, Mode=OneWay}">
             <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                 <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
                 <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@
                 Margin="0,0,4,0"
                 VerticalAlignment="Center"
                 IsEnabled="{x:Bind ViewModel.ClipboardHistoryEnabled, Mode=TwoWay}"
-                Style="{StaticResource SubtleButtonStyle}">
+                Style="{StaticResource SubtleButtonStyle}"
+                Visibility="{x:Bind ViewModel.ShowClipboardHistoryButton, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}, Mode=OneWay}">
                 <ToolTipService.ToolTip>
                     <TextBlock x:Uid="ClipboardHistoryButtonToolTip" />
                 </ToolTipService.ToolTip>
@@ -270,9 +271,9 @@
                                 <StackPanel Spacing="8">
                                     <TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap">
                                         <Run x:Uid="AIMistakeNote" /><LineBreak /><Run
+                                            x:Uid="CustomEndpointWarning"
                                             FontSize="12"
-                                            Foreground="{ThemeResource TextFillColorSecondaryBrush}"
-                                            Text="You are using a custom endpoint. Verify all answers." />
+                                            Foreground="{ThemeResource TextFillColorSecondaryBrush}" />
                                     </TextBlock>
                                     <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Spacing="8">
                                         <HyperlinkButton
@@ -280,13 +281,15 @@
                                             x:Uid="TermsLink"
                                             Padding="0"
                                             FontSize="12"
-                                            NavigateUri="https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use" />
+                                            NavigateUri="{x:Bind ViewModel.TermsLinkUri, Mode=OneWay}"
+                                            Visibility="{x:Bind ViewModel.HasTermsLink, Mode=OneWay, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}}" />
                                         <HyperlinkButton
                                             x:Name="PrivacyHyperLink"
                                             x:Uid="PrivacyLink"
                                             Padding="0"
                                             FontSize="12"
-                                            NavigateUri="https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy" />
+                                            NavigateUri="{x:Bind ViewModel.PrivacyLinkUri, Mode=OneWay}"
+                                            Visibility="{x:Bind ViewModel.HasPrivacyLink, Mode=OneWay, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}}" />
                                     </StackPanel>
                                 </StackPanel>
                             </Flyout>

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Helpers/AIServiceFormatEvent.cs

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Helpers
             PromptTokens = semanticKernelFormatEvent.PromptTokens;
             CompletionTokens = semanticKernelFormatEvent.CompletionTokens;
             ModelName = semanticKernelFormatEvent.ModelName;
+            ProviderType = semanticKernelFormatEvent.ProviderType;
             ActionChain = semanticKernelFormatEvent.ActionChain;
         }
 
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Helpers
 
         public string ModelName { get; set; }
 
+        public string ProviderType { get; set; }
+
         public string ActionChain { get; set; }
 
         public string ToJsonString() => JsonSerializer.Serialize(this, SourceGenerationContext.Default.AIServiceFormatEvent);

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Helpers/IUserSettings.cs

@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Settings
 
         public bool CloseAfterLosingFocus { get; }
 
+        public bool EnableClipboardPreview { get; }
+
         public IReadOnlyList<AdvancedPasteCustomAction> CustomActions { get; }
 
         public IReadOnlyList<PasteFormats> AdditionalActions { get; }

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Helpers/UserSettings.cs

@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Settings
 
         public bool CloseAfterLosingFocus { get; private set; }
 
+        public bool EnableClipboardPreview { get; private set; }
+
         public IReadOnlyList<PasteFormats> AdditionalActions => _additionalActions;
 
         public IReadOnlyList<AdvancedPasteCustomAction> CustomActions => _customActions;
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Settings
             IsAIEnabled = false;
             ShowCustomPreview = true;
             CloseAfterLosingFocus = false;
+            EnableClipboardPreview = true;
             PasteAIConfiguration = new PasteAIConfiguration();
             _additionalActions = [];
             _customActions = [];
@@ -107,6 +110,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Settings
                                 IsAIEnabled = properties.IsAIEnabled;
                                 ShowCustomPreview = properties.ShowCustomPreview;
                                 CloseAfterLosingFocus = properties.CloseAfterLosingFocus;
+                                EnableClipboardPreview = properties.EnableClipboardPreview;
                                 PasteAIConfiguration = properties.PasteAIConfiguration ?? new PasteAIConfiguration();
 
                                 var sourceAdditionalActions = properties.AdditionalActions;
@@ -163,28 +167,144 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Settings
                 return false;
             }
 
-            if (settings.Properties.IsAIEnabled || !LegacyOpenAIKeyExists())
+            var properties = settings.Properties;
+            var configuration = properties.PasteAIConfiguration;
+
+            if (configuration is null)
+            {
+                configuration = new PasteAIConfiguration();
+                properties.PasteAIConfiguration = configuration;
+            }
+
+            bool hasLegacyProviders = configuration.LegacyProviderConfigurations is { Count: > 0 };
+            bool legacyAdvancedAIConsumed = properties.TryConsumeLegacyAdvancedAIEnabled(out var advancedFlag);
+            bool legacyAdvancedAIEnabled = legacyAdvancedAIConsumed && advancedFlag;
+            PasswordCredential legacyCredential = TryGetLegacyOpenAICredential();
+
+            if (!hasLegacyProviders && legacyCredential is null && !legacyAdvancedAIConsumed)
             {
                 return false;
             }
 
-            settings.Properties.IsAIEnabled = true;
-            return true;
+            bool configurationUpdated = false;
+
+            if (hasLegacyProviders)
+            {
+                configurationUpdated |= AdvancedPasteMigrationHelper.MigrateLegacyProviderConfigurations(configuration);
+            }
+
+            PasteAIProviderDefinition openAIProvider = null;
+            if (legacyCredential is not null || hasLegacyProviders || legacyAdvancedAIConsumed)
+            {
+                var ensureResult = AdvancedPasteMigrationHelper.EnsureOpenAIProvider(configuration);
+                openAIProvider = ensureResult.Provider;
+                configurationUpdated |= ensureResult.Updated;
+            }
+
+            if (legacyAdvancedAIConsumed && openAIProvider is not null && openAIProvider.EnableAdvancedAI != legacyAdvancedAIEnabled)
+            {
+                openAIProvider.EnableAdvancedAI = legacyAdvancedAIEnabled;
+                configurationUpdated = true;
+            }
+
+            if (legacyCredential is not null && openAIProvider is not null)
+            {
+                StoreMigratedOpenAICredential(openAIProvider.Id, openAIProvider.ServiceType, legacyCredential.Password);
+                RemoveLegacyOpenAICredential();
+            }
+
+            bool shouldEnableAI = legacyCredential is not null;
+            bool enabledUpdated = false;
+            if (properties.IsAIEnabled != shouldEnableAI)
+            {
+                properties.IsAIEnabled = shouldEnableAI;
+                enabledUpdated = true;
+            }
+
+            return configurationUpdated || enabledUpdated || legacyAdvancedAIConsumed;
         }
 
-        private static bool LegacyOpenAIKeyExists()
+        private static PasswordCredential TryGetLegacyOpenAICredential()
         {
             try
             {
                 PasswordVault vault = new();
-                return vault.Retrieve("https://platform.openai.com/api-keys", "PowerToys_AdvancedPaste_OpenAIKey") is not null;
+                var credential = vault.Retrieve("https://platform.openai.com/api-keys", "PowerToys_AdvancedPaste_OpenAIKey");
+                credential?.RetrievePassword();
+                return credential;
             }
             catch (Exception)
             {
-                return false;
+                return null;
             }
         }
 
+        private static void RemoveLegacyOpenAICredential()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                PasswordVault vault = new();
+                TryRemoveCredential(vault, "https://platform.openai.com/api-keys", "PowerToys_AdvancedPaste_OpenAIKey");
+            }
+            catch (Exception)
+            {
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static void StoreMigratedOpenAICredential(string providerId, string serviceType, string password)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(password))
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            try
+            {
+                var serviceKind = serviceType.ToAIServiceType();
+                if (serviceKind != AIServiceType.OpenAI)
+                {
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                string resource = "https://platform.openai.com/api-keys";
+                string username = $"PowerToys_AdvancedPaste_PasteAI_openai_{NormalizeProviderIdentifier(providerId)}";
+
+                PasswordVault vault = new();
+                TryRemoveCredential(vault, resource, username);
+
+                PasswordCredential credential = new(resource, username, password);
+                vault.Add(credential);
+            }
+            catch (Exception ex)
+            {
+                Logger.LogError("Failed to migrate legacy OpenAI credential", ex);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static void TryRemoveCredential(PasswordVault vault, string credentialResource, string credentialUserName)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                PasswordCredential existingCred = vault.Retrieve(credentialResource, credentialUserName);
+                vault.Remove(existingCred);
+            }
+            catch (Exception)
+            {
+                // Credential doesn't exist, which is fine
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static string NormalizeProviderIdentifier(string providerId)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(providerId))
+            {
+                return "default";
+            }
+
+            var filtered = new string(providerId.Where(char.IsLetterOrDigit).ToArray());
+            return string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(filtered) ? "default" : filtered.ToLowerInvariant();
+        }
+
         public async Task SetActiveAIProviderAsync(string providerId)
         {
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(providerId))

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Services/AdvancedAIKernelService.cs

@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@ using AdvancedPaste.Settings;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.ChatCompletion;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Amazon;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.AzureAIInference;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Google;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.HuggingFace;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.MistralAI;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Ollama;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.OpenAI;
 
 namespace AdvancedPaste.Services;
@@ -220,7 +214,7 @@ public sealed class AdvancedAIKernelService : KernelServiceBase
         var serviceType = GetRuntimeConfiguration().ServiceType;
         return new OpenAIPromptExecutionSettings
         {
-            FunctionChoiceBehavior = FunctionChoiceBehavior.Required(),
+            FunctionChoiceBehavior = FunctionChoiceBehavior.Auto(),
             Temperature = 0.01,
         };
     }

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Services/CustomActions/CustomActionTransformService.cs

@@ -83,32 +83,39 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Services.CustomActions
                     SystemPrompt = systemPrompt,
                 };
 
+                var operationStart = DateTime.UtcNow;
+
                 var providerContent = await provider.ProcessPasteAsync(
                     request,
                     cancellationToken,
                     progress);
 
+                var durationMs = (int)Math.Round((DateTime.UtcNow - operationStart).TotalMilliseconds);
+
                 var usage = request.Usage;
                 var content = providerContent ?? string.Empty;
 
-                // Log endpoint usage
-                var endpointEvent = new AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(providerConfig.ProviderType);
+                // Log endpoint usage (custom action pipeline is not the advanced SK flow)
+                var endpointEvent = new AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(providerConfig.ProviderType, providerConfig.Model ?? string.Empty, isAdvanced: false, durationMs: durationMs);
                 PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(endpointEvent);
 
-                Logger.LogDebug($"{nameof(CustomActionTransformService)}.{nameof(TransformAsync)} complete; ModelName={providerConfig.Model ?? string.Empty}, PromptTokens={usage.PromptTokens}, CompletionTokens={usage.CompletionTokens}");
+                Logger.LogDebug($"{nameof(CustomActionTransformService)}.{nameof(TransformAsync)} complete; ModelName={providerConfig.Model ?? string.Empty}, PromptTokens={usage.PromptTokens}, CompletionTokens={usage.CompletionTokens}, DurationMs={durationMs}");
 
                 return new CustomActionTransformResult(content, usage);
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
                 Logger.LogError($"{nameof(CustomActionTransformService)}.{nameof(TransformAsync)} failed", ex);
+                var statusCode = ExtractStatusCode(ex);
+                var modelName = providerConfig.Model ?? string.Empty;
+                AdvancedPasteCustomActionErrorEvent errorEvent = new(providerConfig.ProviderType, modelName, statusCode, ex is PasteActionModeratedException ? PasteActionModeratedException.ErrorDescription : ex.Message);
+                PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(errorEvent);
 
                 if (ex is PasteActionException or OperationCanceledException)
                 {
                     throw;
                 }
 
-                var statusCode = ExtractStatusCode(ex);
                 var failureMessage = providerConfig.ProviderType switch
                 {
                     AIServiceType.OpenAI or AIServiceType.AzureOpenAI => ErrorHelpers.TranslateErrorText(statusCode),
@@ -181,8 +188,6 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Services.CustomActions
             {
                 AIServiceType.Onnx => false,
                 AIServiceType.Ollama => false,
-                AIServiceType.Anthropic => false,
-                AIServiceType.AmazonBedrock => false,
                 _ => true,
             };
         }

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Services/CustomActions/SemanticKernelPasteProvider.cs

@@ -11,10 +11,8 @@ using AdvancedPaste.Models;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.ChatCompletion;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Amazon;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.AzureAIInference;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Google;
-using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.HuggingFace;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.MistralAI;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.Ollama;
 using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Connectors.OpenAI;
@@ -29,11 +27,8 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Services.CustomActions
             AIServiceType.AzureOpenAI,
             AIServiceType.Mistral,
             AIServiceType.Google,
-            AIServiceType.HuggingFace,
             AIServiceType.AzureAIInference,
             AIServiceType.Ollama,
-            AIServiceType.Anthropic,
-            AIServiceType.AmazonBedrock,
         };
 
         public static PasteAIProviderRegistration Registration { get; } = new(SupportedTypes, config => new SemanticKernelPasteProvider(config));
@@ -142,21 +137,12 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Services.CustomActions
                 case AIServiceType.Google:
                     kernelBuilder.AddGoogleAIGeminiChatCompletion(_config.Model, apiKey: apiKey);
                     break;
-                case AIServiceType.HuggingFace:
-                    kernelBuilder.AddHuggingFaceChatCompletion(_config.Model, apiKey: apiKey);
-                    break;
                 case AIServiceType.AzureAIInference:
                     kernelBuilder.AddAzureAIInferenceChatCompletion(_config.Model, apiKey: apiKey, endpoint: new Uri(endpoint));
                     break;
                 case AIServiceType.Ollama:
                     kernelBuilder.AddOllamaChatCompletion(_config.Model, endpoint: new Uri(endpoint));
                     break;
-                case AIServiceType.Anthropic:
-                    kernelBuilder.AddBedrockChatCompletionService(_config.Model);
-                    break;
-                case AIServiceType.AmazonBedrock:
-                    kernelBuilder.AddBedrockChatCompletionService(_config.Model);
-                    break;
 
                 default:
                     throw new NotSupportedException($"Provider '{_config.ProviderType}' is not supported by {nameof(SemanticKernelPasteProvider)}");
@@ -184,8 +170,6 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Services.CustomActions
             return serviceType switch
             {
                 AIServiceType.Ollama => false,
-                AIServiceType.Anthropic => false,
-                AIServiceType.AmazonBedrock => false,
                 _ => true,
             };
         }

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Services/EnhancedVaultCredentialsProvider.cs

@@ -156,16 +156,10 @@ public sealed class EnhancedVaultCredentialsProvider : IAICredentialsProvider
                 resource = "https://ai.google.dev/";
                 serviceKey = "google";
                 break;
-            case AIServiceType.HuggingFace:
-                resource = "https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens";
-                serviceKey = "huggingface";
-                break;
             case AIServiceType.FoundryLocal:
             case AIServiceType.ML:
             case AIServiceType.Onnx:
             case AIServiceType.Ollama:
-            case AIServiceType.Anthropic:
-            case AIServiceType.AmazonBedrock:
                 return null;
             default:
                 return null;

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Services/KernelServiceBase.cs

@@ -186,12 +186,20 @@ public abstract class KernelServiceBase(
 
     private void LogResult(bool cacheUsed, bool isSavedQuery, IEnumerable<ActionChainItem> actionChain, AIServiceUsage usage)
     {
-        AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent telemetryEvent = new(cacheUsed, isSavedQuery, usage.PromptTokens, usage.CompletionTokens, AdvancedAIModelName, AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent.FormatActionChain(actionChain));
+        var runtimeConfig = GetRuntimeConfiguration();
+
+        AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent telemetryEvent = new(
+            cacheUsed,
+            isSavedQuery,
+            usage.PromptTokens,
+            usage.CompletionTokens,
+            AdvancedAIModelName,
+            runtimeConfig.ServiceType.ToString(),
+            AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent.FormatActionChain(actionChain));
         PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(telemetryEvent);
 
         // Log endpoint usage
-        var runtimeConfig = GetRuntimeConfiguration();
-        var endpointEvent = new AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(runtimeConfig.ServiceType);
+        var endpointEvent = new AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(runtimeConfig.ServiceType, AdvancedAIModelName, isAdvanced: true);
         PowerToysTelemetry.Log.WriteEvent(endpointEvent);
 
         var logEvent = new AIServiceFormatEvent(telemetryEvent);

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Strings/en-us/Resources.resw

@@ -359,6 +359,13 @@
   </data>
   <data name="Relative_Date_TimeFormat" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>{0}, {1}</value>
-    <comment>(e.g., “10/20/2025, 17:05” in the user’s locale)</comment>
+    <comment>(e.g., "10/20/2025, 17:05" in the user's locale)</comment>
+  </data>
+  <data name="CustomEndpointWarning" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>You are using a custom endpoint. Verify all answers.</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="LocalModelBadge" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Local</value>
+    <comment>Badge label displayed next to local AI model providers (e.g., Ollama, Foundry Local) to indicate the model runs locally</comment>
   </data>
 </root>

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Telemetry/AdvancedPasteCustomActionErrorEvent.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
+// The Microsoft Corporation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information.
+
+using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
+using System.Diagnostics.Tracing;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Settings.UI.Library;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry;
+using Microsoft.PowerToys.Telemetry.Events;
+
+namespace AdvancedPaste.Telemetry;
+
+[EventData]
+[DynamicallyAccessedMembers(DynamicallyAccessedMemberTypes.PublicProperties)]
+public sealed class AdvancedPasteCustomActionErrorEvent : EventBase, IEvent
+{
+    public AdvancedPasteCustomActionErrorEvent(AIServiceType providerType, string modelName, int statusCode, string error)
+    {
+        ProviderType = providerType.ToString();
+        ModelName = modelName;
+        StatusCode = statusCode;
+        Error = error;
+    }
+
+    public string ProviderType { get; set; }
+
+    public string ModelName { get; set; }
+
+    public int StatusCode { get; set; }
+
+    public string Error { get; set; }
+
+    public PartA_PrivTags PartA_PrivTags => PartA_PrivTags.ProductAndServiceUsage;
+}

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Telemetry/AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent.cs

@@ -15,13 +15,31 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Telemetry;
 public class AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent : EventBase, IEvent
 {
     /// <summary>
-    /// Gets or sets the AI provider type (e.g., OpenAI, AzureOpenAI, Anthropic).
+    /// Gets or sets the AI provider type (e.g., OpenAI, AzureOpenAI, Google).
     /// </summary>
     public string ProviderType { get; set; }
 
-    public AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(AIServiceType providerType)
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets or sets the configured model name.
+    /// </summary>
+    public string ModelName { get; set; }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether the advanced AI pipeline was used.
+    /// </summary>
+    public bool IsAdvanced { get; set; }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets or sets the total duration in milliseconds, or -1 if unavailable.
+    /// </summary>
+    public int DurationMs { get; set; }
+
+    public AdvancedPasteEndpointUsageEvent(AIServiceType providerType, string modelName, bool isAdvanced, int durationMs = -1)
     {
         ProviderType = providerType.ToString();
+        ModelName = modelName;
+        IsAdvanced = isAdvanced;
+        DurationMs = durationMs;
     }
 
     public PartA_PrivTags PartA_PrivTags => PartA_PrivTags.ProductAndServiceUsage;

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/Telemetry/AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent.cs

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.Telemetry;
 
 [EventData]
 [DynamicallyAccessedMembers(DynamicallyAccessedMemberTypes.PublicProperties)]
-public class AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent(bool cacheUsed, bool isSavedQuery, int promptTokens, int completionTokens, string modelName, string actionChain) : EventBase, IEvent
+public class AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent(bool cacheUsed, bool isSavedQuery, int promptTokens, int completionTokens, string modelName, string providerType, string actionChain) : EventBase, IEvent
 {
     public static string FormatActionChain(IEnumerable<ActionChainItem> actionChain) => FormatActionChain(actionChain.Select(item => item.Format));
 
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ public class AdvancedPasteSemanticKernelFormatEvent(bool cacheUsed, bool isSaved
 
     public string ModelName { get; set; } = modelName;
 
+    public string ProviderType { get; set; } = providerType;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Gets or sets a comma-separated list of paste formats used - in the same order they were executed.
     /// Conceptually an array but formatted this way to work around https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/10428

src/modules/AdvancedPaste/AdvancedPaste/ViewModels/OptionsViewModel.cs

@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
         private ClipboardFormat _availableClipboardFormats;
 
         [ObservableProperty]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(ShowClipboardHistoryButton))]
         private bool _clipboardHistoryEnabled;
 
         [ObservableProperty]
@@ -71,6 +72,11 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
         [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(IsCustomAIAvailable))]
         [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(AllowedAIProviders))]
         [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(ActiveAIProvider))]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(ActiveAIProviderTooltip))]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(TermsLinkUri))]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(PrivacyLinkUri))]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(HasTermsLink))]
+        [NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(HasPrivacyLink))]
         private bool _isAllowedByGPO;
 
         [ObservableProperty]
@@ -187,10 +193,43 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
             }
         }
 
+        private AIServiceTypeMetadata GetActiveProviderMetadata()
+        {
+            var provider = ActiveAIProvider ?? AllowedAIProviders.FirstOrDefault();
+            var serviceType = provider?.ServiceTypeKind ?? AIServiceType.OpenAI;
+            return AIServiceTypeRegistry.GetMetadata(serviceType);
+        }
+
+        public Uri TermsLinkUri
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var metadata = GetActiveProviderMetadata();
+                return metadata.HasTermsLink ? metadata.TermsUri : null;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public Uri PrivacyLinkUri
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var metadata = GetActiveProviderMetadata();
+                return metadata.HasPrivacyLink ? metadata.PrivacyUri : null;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public bool HasTermsLink => GetActiveProviderMetadata().HasTermsLink;
+
+        public bool HasPrivacyLink => GetActiveProviderMetadata().HasPrivacyLink;
+
         public bool ClipboardHasData => AvailableClipboardFormats != ClipboardFormat.None;
 
         public bool ClipboardHasDataForCustomAI => PasteFormat.SupportsClipboardFormats(CustomAIFormat, AvailableClipboardFormats);
 
+        public bool ShowClipboardPreview => _userSettings.EnableClipboardPreview;
+
+        public bool ShowClipboardHistoryButton => ClipboardHistoryEnabled;
+
         public bool HasIndeterminateTransformProgress => double.IsNaN(TransformProgress);
 
         private PasteFormats CustomAIFormat =>
@@ -276,8 +315,9 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(IsAdvancedAIEnabled));
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(AIProviders));
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(AllowedAIProviders));
-            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ActiveAIProvider));
-            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ActiveAIProviderTooltip));
+            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ShowClipboardPreview));
+
+            NotifyActiveProviderChanged();
 
             EnqueueRefreshPasteFormats();
         }
@@ -316,8 +356,17 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
                 }
             }
 
+            NotifyActiveProviderChanged();
+        }
+
+        private void NotifyActiveProviderChanged()
+        {
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ActiveAIProvider));
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ActiveAIProviderTooltip));
+            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(TermsLinkUri));
+            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(PrivacyLinkUri));
+            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(HasTermsLink));
+            OnPropertyChanged(nameof(HasPrivacyLink));
         }
 
         private void RefreshPasteFormats()
@@ -755,7 +804,6 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
                 AIServiceType.AzureAIInference => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAzureAIInferenceValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
                 AIServiceType.Mistral => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteMistralValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
                 AIServiceType.Google => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteGoogleValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
-                AIServiceType.Anthropic => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteAnthropicValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
                 AIServiceType.Ollama => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteOllamaValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
                 AIServiceType.FoundryLocal => PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GPOWrapper.GetAllowedAdvancedPasteFoundryLocalValue() != PowerToys.GPOWrapper.GpoRuleConfigured.Disabled,
                 _ => true, // Allow unknown types by default
@@ -837,6 +885,7 @@ namespace AdvancedPaste.ViewModels
 
             UpdateAIProviderActiveFlags();
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(AIProviders));
+            NotifyActiveProviderChanged();
             EnqueueRefreshPasteFormats();
         }
 

src/modules/CropAndLock/CropAndLock/CropAndLock.vcxproj

@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <RuntimeLibrary Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|ARM64'">MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+      <RuntimeLibrary Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateWindowsMetadata>false</GenerateWindowsMetadata>
@@ -93,6 +95,8 @@
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <RuntimeLibrary Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|ARM64'">MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+      <RuntimeLibrary Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <EnableCOMDATFolding>true</EnableCOMDATFolding>

src/modules/FileLocksmith/FileLocksmithLibInterop/FileLocksmithLibInterop.vcxproj

@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
     <ClCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebugDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
       <LinkIncremental>true</LinkIncremental>
     </ClCompile>
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
       <UseDebugLibraries>false</UseDebugLibraries>
       <WholeProgramOptimization>true</WholeProgramOptimization>
       <LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchService.cpp

@@ -11,19 +11,17 @@
 #include <logger/logger_settings.h>
 #include <logger/logger.h>
 #include <utils/logger_helper.h>
+#include "LightSwitchStateManager.h"
+#include <LightSwitchUtils.h>
 
 SERVICE_STATUS g_ServiceStatus = {};
 SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE g_StatusHandle = nullptr;
 HANDLE g_ServiceStopEvent = nullptr;
-extern int g_lastUpdatedDay = -1;
-static ScheduleMode prevMode = ScheduleMode::Off;
-static std::wstring prevLat, prevLon;
-static int prevMinutes = -1;
-static bool lastOverrideStatus = false;
 
 VOID WINAPI ServiceMain(DWORD argc, LPTSTR* argv);
 VOID WINAPI ServiceCtrlHandler(DWORD dwCtrl);
 DWORD WINAPI ServiceWorkerThread(LPVOID lpParam);
+void ApplyTheme(bool shouldBeLight);
 
 // Entry point for the executable
 int _tmain(int argc, TCHAR* argv[])
@@ -124,31 +122,66 @@ VOID WINAPI ServiceCtrlHandler(DWORD dwCtrl)
     }
 }
 
-static void update_sun_times(auto& settings)
+void ApplyTheme(bool shouldBeLight)
 {
-    double latitude = std::stod(settings.latitude);
-    double longitude = std::stod(settings.longitude);
+    const auto& s = LightSwitchSettings::settings();
+
+    if (s.changeSystem)
+    {
+        bool isSystemCurrentlyLight = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
+        if (shouldBeLight != isSystemCurrentlyLight)
+        {
+            SetSystemTheme(shouldBeLight);
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changed system theme to {}.", shouldBeLight ? L"light" : L"dark");
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (s.changeApps)
+    {
+        bool isAppsCurrentlyLight = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
+        if (shouldBeLight != isAppsCurrentlyLight)
+        {
+            SetAppsTheme(shouldBeLight);
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changed apps theme to {}.", shouldBeLight ? L"light" : L"dark");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static void DetectAndHandleExternalThemeChange(LightSwitchStateManager& stateManager)
+{
+    const auto& s = LightSwitchSettings::settings();
+    if (s.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::Off)
+        return;
 
     SYSTEMTIME st;
     GetLocalTime(&st);
+    int nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
 
-    SunTimes newTimes = CalculateSunriseSunset(latitude, longitude, st.wYear, st.wMonth, st.wDay);
+    // Compute effective boundaries (with offsets if needed)
+    int effectiveLight = s.lightTime;
+    int effectiveDark = s.darkTime;
 
-    int newLightTime = newTimes.sunriseHour * 60 + newTimes.sunriseMinute;
-    int newDarkTime = newTimes.sunsetHour * 60 + newTimes.sunsetMinute;
-    try
+    if (s.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise)
     {
-        auto values = PowerToysSettings::PowerToyValues::load_from_settings_file(L"LightSwitch");
-        values.add_property(L"lightTime", newLightTime);
-        values.add_property(L"darkTime", newDarkTime);
-        values.save_to_settings_file();
-
-        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Updated sun times and saved to config.");
+        effectiveLight = (s.lightTime + s.sunrise_offset) % 1440;
+        effectiveDark = (s.darkTime + s.sunset_offset) % 1440;
     }
-    catch (const std::exception& e)
+
+    // Use shared helper (handles wraparound logic)
+    bool shouldBeLight = ShouldBeLight(nowMinutes, effectiveLight, effectiveDark);
+
+    // Compare current system/apps theme
+    bool currentSystemLight = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
+    bool currentAppsLight = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
+
+    bool systemMismatch = s.changeSystem && (currentSystemLight != shouldBeLight);
+    bool appsMismatch = s.changeApps && (currentAppsLight != shouldBeLight);
+
+    // Trigger manual override only if mismatch and not already active
+    if ((systemMismatch || appsMismatch) && !stateManager.GetState().isManualOverride)
     {
-        std::wstring wmsg(e.what(), e.what() + strlen(e.what()));
-        Logger::error(L"[LightSwitchService] Exception during sun time update: {}", wmsg);
+        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] External theme change detected (Windows Settings). Entering manual override mode.");
+        stateManager.OnManualOverride();
     }
 }
 
@@ -162,307 +195,99 @@ DWORD WINAPI ServiceWorkerThread(LPVOID lpParam)
     Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Worker thread starting...");
     Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Parent PID: {}", parentPid);
 
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    // Initialization
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    static LightSwitchStateManager stateManager;
+
     LightSwitchSettings::instance().InitFileWatcher();
 
     HANDLE hManualOverride = OpenEventW(SYNCHRONIZE | EVENT_MODIFY_STATE, FALSE, L"POWERTOYS_LIGHTSWITCH_MANUAL_OVERRIDE");
+    HANDLE hSettingsChanged = LightSwitchSettings::instance().GetSettingsChangedEvent();
 
     LightSwitchSettings::instance().LoadSettings();
-    auto& settings = LightSwitchSettings::instance().settings();
+    const auto& settings = LightSwitchSettings::instance().settings();
 
     SYSTEMTIME st;
     GetLocalTime(&st);
     int nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
 
-    // Handle initial theme application if necessary
-    if (settings.scheduleMode != ScheduleMode::Off)
-    {
-        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Schedule mode is set to {}. Applying theme if necessary.", settings.scheduleMode);
-        LightSwitchSettings::instance().ApplyThemeIfNecessary();
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Schedule mode is set to Off.");
-    }
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Initialized at {:02d}:{:02d}.", st.wHour, st.wMinute);
+    stateManager.SyncInitialThemeState();
+    stateManager.OnTick(nowMinutes);
 
-    g_lastUpdatedDay = st.wDay;
-    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Initializing g_lastUpdatedDay to {}.", g_lastUpdatedDay);
-    ULONGLONG lastSettingsReload = 0;
-
-    // ticker loop
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    // Worker Loop
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     for (;;)
     {
-        HANDLE waits[2] = { g_ServiceStopEvent, hParent };
-        DWORD count = hParent ? 2 : 1;
-        bool skipRest = false;
-
-        const auto& settings = LightSwitchSettings::instance().settings();
-
-        // If the mode is set to Off, suspend the scheduler and avoid extra work
-        if (settings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::Off)
-        {
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Schedule mode is OFF - suspending scheduler but keeping service alive.");
-
-            if (!hManualOverride)
-                hManualOverride = OpenEventW(SYNCHRONIZE | EVENT_MODIFY_STATE, FALSE, L"POWERTOYS_LIGHTSWITCH_MANUAL_OVERRIDE");
-
-            HANDLE waitsOff[4];
-            DWORD countOff = 0;
-            waitsOff[countOff++] = g_ServiceStopEvent;
-            if (hParent)
-                waitsOff[countOff++] = hParent;
-            if (hManualOverride)
-                waitsOff[countOff++] = hManualOverride;
-            waitsOff[countOff++] = LightSwitchSettings::instance().GetSettingsChangedEvent();
-
-            for (;;)
-            {
-                DWORD wait = WaitForMultipleObjects(countOff, waitsOff, FALSE, INFINITE);
-
-                if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0)
-                {
-                    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Stop event triggered - exiting worker loop.");
-                    goto cleanup;
-                }
-                if (hParent && wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + 1)
-                {
-                    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Parent exited - stopping service.");
-                    goto cleanup;
-                }
-
-                if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + (hParent ? 2 : 1))
-                {
-                    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Manual override received while schedule OFF.");
-                    ResetEvent(hManualOverride);
-                    continue;
-                }
-
-                if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + (hParent ? 3 : 2))
-                {
-                    Logger::trace(L"[LightSwitchService] Settings change event triggered, reloading settings...");
-                    ResetEvent(LightSwitchSettings::instance().GetSettingsChangedEvent());
-                    const auto& newSettings = LightSwitchSettings::instance().settings();
-                    lastSettingsReload = GetTickCount64();
-
-                    if (newSettings.scheduleMode != ScheduleMode::Off)
-                    {
-                        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Schedule re-enabled, resuming normal loop.");
-                        break;
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        bool scheduleJustEnabled = (prevMode == ScheduleMode::Off && settings.scheduleMode != ScheduleMode::Off);
-        prevMode = settings.scheduleMode;
-
-        ULONGLONG nowTick = GetTickCount64();
-        bool recentSettingsReload = (nowTick - lastSettingsReload < 2000);
-
-        Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchService] Current g_lastUpdatedDay value = {}.", g_lastUpdatedDay);
-
-        // Manual Override Detection Logic
-        bool manualOverrideActive = (hManualOverride && WaitForSingleObject(hManualOverride, 0) == WAIT_OBJECT_0);
-
-        if (manualOverrideActive != lastOverrideStatus)
-        {
-            Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchService] Manual override active = {}", manualOverrideActive);
-            lastOverrideStatus = manualOverrideActive;
-        }
-
-        if (settings.scheduleMode != ScheduleMode::Off && !recentSettingsReload && !scheduleJustEnabled && !manualOverrideActive)
-        {
-            bool currentSystemTheme = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
-            bool currentAppsTheme = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
-
-            SYSTEMTIME st;
-            GetLocalTime(&st);
-            int nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
-
-            int lightBoundary = 0;
-            int darkBoundary = 0;
-
-            if (settings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise)
-            {
-                lightBoundary = (settings.lightTime + settings.sunrise_offset) % 1440;
-                darkBoundary = (settings.darkTime + settings.sunset_offset) % 1440;
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                lightBoundary = settings.lightTime;
-                darkBoundary = settings.darkTime;
-            }
-
-            bool shouldBeLight = (lightBoundary < darkBoundary) ? (nowMinutes >= lightBoundary && nowMinutes < darkBoundary) : (nowMinutes >= lightBoundary || nowMinutes < darkBoundary);
-
-            Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchService] shouldBeLight = {}", shouldBeLight);
-
-            bool systemMismatch = settings.changeSystem && (currentSystemTheme != shouldBeLight);
-            bool appsMismatch = settings.changeApps && (currentAppsTheme != shouldBeLight);
-
-            if (systemMismatch || appsMismatch)
-            {
-              // Make sure this is not because we crossed a boundary
-              bool crossedBoundary = false;
-              if (prevMinutes != -1)
-              {
-                  if (nowMinutes < prevMinutes)
-                  {
-                      // wrapped around midnight
-                      crossedBoundary = (prevMinutes <= lightBoundary || nowMinutes >= lightBoundary) ||
-                                        (prevMinutes <= darkBoundary || nowMinutes >= darkBoundary);
-                  }
-                  else
-                  {
-                      crossedBoundary = (prevMinutes < lightBoundary && nowMinutes >= lightBoundary) ||
-                                        (prevMinutes < darkBoundary && nowMinutes >= darkBoundary);
-                  }
-              }
-
-              if (crossedBoundary)
-              {
-                  Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Missed boundary detected. Applying theme instead of triggering manual override.");
-                  LightSwitchSettings::instance().ApplyThemeIfNecessary();
-              }
-              else
-              {
-                  Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] External {} theme change detected, enabling manual override.",
-                               systemMismatch && appsMismatch ? L"system/app" :
-                               systemMismatch                 ? L"system" :
-                                                                L"app");
-                  SetEvent(hManualOverride);
-                  skipRest = true;
-              }
-            }
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchService] Skipping external-change detection (schedule off, recent reload, or just enabled).");
-        }
-        
+        HANDLE waits[4];
+        DWORD count = 0;
+        waits[count++] = g_ServiceStopEvent;
+        if (hParent)
+            waits[count++] = hParent;
         if (hManualOverride)
-            manualOverrideActive = (WaitForSingleObject(hManualOverride, 0) == WAIT_OBJECT_0);
+            waits[count++] = hManualOverride;
+        waits[count++] = hSettingsChanged;
 
-        if (manualOverrideActive)
-        {
-            int lightBoundary = (settings.lightTime + settings.sunrise_offset) % 1440;
-            int darkBoundary = (settings.darkTime + settings.sunset_offset) % 1440;
-
-            SYSTEMTIME st;
-            GetLocalTime(&st);
-            nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
-
-            bool crossedLight = false;
-            bool crossedDark = false;
-
-            if (prevMinutes != -1)
-            {
-                // this means we are in a new day cycle
-                if (nowMinutes < prevMinutes)
-                {
-                    crossedLight = (prevMinutes <= lightBoundary || nowMinutes >= lightBoundary);
-                    crossedDark = (prevMinutes <= darkBoundary || nowMinutes >= darkBoundary);
-                }
-                else
-                {
-                    crossedLight = (prevMinutes < lightBoundary && nowMinutes >= lightBoundary);
-                    crossedDark = (prevMinutes < darkBoundary && nowMinutes >= darkBoundary);
-                }
-            }
-
-            if (crossedLight || crossedDark)
-            {
-                ResetEvent(hManualOverride);
-                Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Manual override cleared after crossing schedule boundary.");
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchService] Skipping schedule due to manual override");
-                skipRest = true;
-            }
-        }
-
-        // Apply theme if nothing has made us skip
-        if (!skipRest)
-        {
-            // Next two conditionals check for any updates necessary to the sun times.
-            bool modeChangedToSunset = (prevMode != settings.scheduleMode &&
-                                        settings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise);
-            bool coordsChanged = (prevLat != settings.latitude || prevLon != settings.longitude);
-
-            if ((modeChangedToSunset || coordsChanged) && settings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise)
-            {
-                SYSTEMTIME st;
-                GetLocalTime(&st);
-
-                Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Mode or coordinates changed, recalculating sun times.");
-                update_sun_times(settings);
-                g_lastUpdatedDay = st.wDay;
-                prevMode = settings.scheduleMode;
-                prevLat = settings.latitude;
-                prevLon = settings.longitude;
-            }
-
-            SYSTEMTIME st;
-            GetLocalTime(&st);
-            int nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
-
-            if ((g_lastUpdatedDay != st.wDay) && (settings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise))
-            {
-                update_sun_times(settings);
-                g_lastUpdatedDay = st.wDay;
-                prevMinutes = -1;
-                Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Recalculated sun times at new day boundary.");
-            }
-
-            // settings after any necessary updates.
-            LightSwitchSettings::instance().LoadSettings();
-            const auto& currentSettings = LightSwitchSettings::instance().settings();
-
-            wchar_t msg[160];
-            swprintf_s(msg,
-                       L"[LightSwitchService] now=%02d:%02d | light=%02d:%02d | dark=%02d:%02d | mode=%s",
-                       st.wHour,
-                       st.wMinute,
-                       currentSettings.lightTime / 60,
-                       currentSettings.lightTime % 60,
-                       currentSettings.darkTime / 60,
-                       currentSettings.darkTime % 60,
-                       ToString(currentSettings.scheduleMode).c_str());
-            Logger::info(msg);
-
-            LightSwitchSettings::instance().ApplyThemeIfNecessary();
-        }
-
-        // ─── Wait For Next Minute Tick Or Stop Event ────────────────────────────────
+        // Wait for one of these to trigger or for a new minute tick
         SYSTEMTIME st;
         GetLocalTime(&st);
         int msToNextMinute = (60 - st.wSecond) * 1000 - st.wMilliseconds;
         if (msToNextMinute < 50)
             msToNextMinute = 50;
 
-       prevMinutes = nowMinutes;
-
         DWORD wait = WaitForMultipleObjects(count, waits, FALSE, msToNextMinute);
+
+        if (wait == WAIT_TIMEOUT)
+        {
+            // regular minute tick
+            GetLocalTime(&st);
+            nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
+            DetectAndHandleExternalThemeChange(stateManager);
+            stateManager.OnTick(nowMinutes);
+            continue;
+        }
+
         if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0)
         {
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Stop event triggered - exiting worker loop.");
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Stop event triggered — exiting.");
             break;
         }
+
         if (hParent && wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + 1)
         {
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Parent process exited - stopping service.");
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Parent process exited — stopping service.");
             break;
         }
+
+        if (hManualOverride && wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + (hParent ? 2 : 1))
+        {
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Manual override event detected.");
+            stateManager.OnManualOverride();
+            ResetEvent(hManualOverride);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0 + (hParent ? (hManualOverride ? 3 : 2) : 2))
+        {
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Settings file changed event detected.");
+            ResetEvent(hSettingsChanged);
+            LightSwitchSettings::instance().LoadSettings();
+            stateManager.OnSettingsChanged();
+            continue;
+        }
     }
 
-cleanup:
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    // Cleanup
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     if (hManualOverride)
         CloseHandle(hManualOverride);
     if (hParent)
         CloseHandle(hParent);
 
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Worker thread exiting cleanly.");
     return 0;
 }
 

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchService.vcxproj

@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="LightSwitchService.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="LightSwitchSettings.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="LightSwitchStateManager.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="SettingsConstants.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="ThemeHelper.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="ThemeScheduler.cpp" />
@@ -85,6 +86,8 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="LightSwitchSettings.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="LightSwitchStateManager.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="LightSwitchUtils.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="SettingsConstants.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="SettingsObserver.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="ThemeHelper.h" />

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchService.vcxproj.filters

@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
     <ClCompile Include="WinHookEventIDs.cpp">
       <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile Include="LightSwitchStateManager.cpp">
+      <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
+    </ClCompile>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="ThemeScheduler.h">
@@ -53,6 +56,12 @@
     <ClInclude Include="WinHookEventIDs.h">
       <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
     </ClInclude>
+    <ClInclude Include="LightSwitchStateManager.h">
+      <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
+    </ClInclude>
+    <ClInclude Include="LightSwitchUtils.h">
+      <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
+    </ClInclude>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Natvis Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\natvis\wil.natvis" />

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchSettings.cpp

@@ -2,10 +2,8 @@
 #include <common/utils/json.h>
 #include <common/SettingsAPI/settings_helpers.h>
 #include "SettingsObserver.h"
-#include "ThemeHelper.h"
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <fstream>
-#include <WinHookEventIDs.h>
 #include <logger.h>
 
 using namespace std;
@@ -69,7 +67,6 @@ void LightSwitchSettings::InitFileWatcher()
                     try
                     {
                         LoadSettings();
-                        ApplyThemeIfNecessary();
                         SetEvent(m_settingsChangedEvent);
                     }
                     catch (const std::exception& e)
@@ -250,48 +247,3 @@ void LightSwitchSettings::LoadSettings()
         // Keeps defaults if load fails
     }
 }
-
-void LightSwitchSettings::ApplyThemeIfNecessary()
-{
-    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(m_settingsMutex);
-
-    SYSTEMTIME st;
-    GetLocalTime(&st);
-    int nowMinutes = st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
-
-    bool shouldBeLight = false;
-    if (m_settings.lightTime < m_settings.darkTime)
-        shouldBeLight = (nowMinutes >= m_settings.lightTime && nowMinutes < m_settings.darkTime);
-    else
-        shouldBeLight = (nowMinutes >= m_settings.lightTime || nowMinutes < m_settings.darkTime);
-
-    bool isSystemCurrentlyLight = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
-    bool isAppsCurrentlyLight = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
-
-    if (shouldBeLight)
-    {
-        if (m_settings.changeSystem && !isSystemCurrentlyLight)
-        {
-            SetSystemTheme(true);
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changing system theme to light mode.");
-        }
-        if (m_settings.changeApps && !isAppsCurrentlyLight)
-        {
-            SetAppsTheme(true);
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changing apps theme to light mode.");
-        }
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        if (m_settings.changeSystem && isSystemCurrentlyLight)
-        {
-            SetSystemTheme(false);
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changing system theme to dark mode.");
-        }
-        if (m_settings.changeApps && isAppsCurrentlyLight)
-        {
-            SetAppsTheme(false);
-            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Changing apps theme to dark mode.");
-        }
-    }
-}

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchSettings.h

@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ public:
     void RemoveObserver(SettingsObserver& observer);
 
     void LoadSettings();
-    void ApplyThemeIfNecessary();
 
     HANDLE GetSettingsChangedEvent() const;
 

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchStateManager.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+#include "pch.h"
+#include "LightSwitchStateManager.h"
+#include <logger.h>
+#include <LightSwitchUtils.h>
+#include "ThemeScheduler.h"
+#include <ThemeHelper.h>
+
+void ApplyTheme(bool shouldBeLight);
+
+// Constructor
+LightSwitchStateManager::LightSwitchStateManager()
+{
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Initialized");
+}
+
+// Called when settings.json changes
+void LightSwitchStateManager::OnSettingsChanged()
+{
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(_stateMutex);
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Settings changed event received");
+
+    // If manual override was active, clear it so new settings take effect
+    if (_state.isManualOverride)
+    {
+        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Clearing manual override due to settings update.");
+        _state.isManualOverride = false;
+    }
+
+    EvaluateAndApplyIfNeeded();
+}
+
+// Called once per minute
+void LightSwitchStateManager::OnTick(int currentMinutes)
+{
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(_stateMutex);
+    Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Tick received: {}", currentMinutes);
+    EvaluateAndApplyIfNeeded();
+}
+
+// Called when manual override is triggered
+void LightSwitchStateManager::OnManualOverride()
+{
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(_stateMutex);
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Manual override triggered");
+    _state.isManualOverride = !_state.isManualOverride;
+
+    // When entering manual override, sync internal theme state to match the current system
+    if (_state.isManualOverride)
+    {
+        _state.isSystemLightActive = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
+
+        _state.isAppsLightActive = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
+
+        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Synced internal theme state to current system theme ({}) and apps theme ({}).",
+                     (_state.isSystemLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark"),
+                     (_state.isAppsLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark"));
+    }
+
+    EvaluateAndApplyIfNeeded();
+}
+
+// Helpers
+bool LightSwitchStateManager::CoordinatesAreValid(const std::wstring& lat, const std::wstring& lon)
+{
+    try
+    {
+        double latVal = std::stod(lat);
+        double lonVal = std::stod(lon);
+        return !(latVal == 0 && lonVal == 0) && (latVal >= -90.0 && latVal <= 90.0) && (lonVal >= -180.0 && lonVal <= 180.0);
+    }
+    catch (...)
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+}
+
+void LightSwitchStateManager::SyncInitialThemeState()
+{
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(_stateMutex);
+    _state.isSystemLightActive = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
+    _state.isAppsLightActive = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Synced initial state to current system theme ({})",
+                 _state.isSystemLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark");
+    Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Synced initial state to current apps theme ({})",
+                 _state.isAppsLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark");
+}
+
+static std::pair<int, int> update_sun_times(auto& settings)
+{
+    double latitude = std::stod(settings.latitude);
+    double longitude = std::stod(settings.longitude);
+
+    SYSTEMTIME st;
+    GetLocalTime(&st);
+
+    SunTimes newTimes = CalculateSunriseSunset(latitude, longitude, st.wYear, st.wMonth, st.wDay);
+
+    int newLightTime = newTimes.sunriseHour * 60 + newTimes.sunriseMinute;
+    int newDarkTime = newTimes.sunsetHour * 60 + newTimes.sunsetMinute;
+
+    try
+    {
+        auto values = PowerToysSettings::PowerToyValues::load_from_settings_file(L"LightSwitch");
+        values.add_property(L"lightTime", newLightTime);
+        values.add_property(L"darkTime", newDarkTime);
+        values.save_to_settings_file();
+
+        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchService] Updated sun times and saved to config.");
+    }
+    catch (const std::exception& e)
+    {
+        std::string msg = e.what();
+        std::wstring wmsg(msg.begin(), msg.end());
+        Logger::error(L"[LightSwitchService] Exception during sun time update: {}", wmsg);
+    }
+
+    return { newLightTime, newDarkTime };
+}
+
+// Internal: decide what should happen now
+void LightSwitchStateManager::EvaluateAndApplyIfNeeded()
+{
+    LightSwitchSettings::instance().LoadSettings();
+    const auto& _currentSettings = LightSwitchSettings::settings();
+    auto now = GetNowMinutes();
+
+    // Early exit: OFF mode just pauses activity
+    if (_currentSettings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::Off)
+    {
+        Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Mode is OFF — pausing service logic.");
+        _state.lastTickMinutes = now;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    bool coordsValid = CoordinatesAreValid(_currentSettings.latitude, _currentSettings.longitude);
+
+    // Handle Sun Mode recalculation
+    if (_currentSettings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise && coordsValid)
+    {
+        SYSTEMTIME st;
+        GetLocalTime(&st);
+        bool newDay = (_state.lastEvaluatedDay != st.wDay);
+        bool modeChangedToSun = (_state.lastAppliedMode != ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise &&
+                                 _currentSettings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::SunsetToSunrise);
+
+        if (newDay || modeChangedToSun)
+        {
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Recalculating sun times (mode/day change).");
+            auto [newLightTime, newDarkTime] = update_sun_times(_currentSettings);
+            _state.lastEvaluatedDay = st.wDay;
+            _state.effectiveLightMinutes = newLightTime + _currentSettings.sunrise_offset;
+            _state.effectiveDarkMinutes = newDarkTime + _currentSettings.sunset_offset;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            _state.effectiveLightMinutes = _currentSettings.lightTime + _currentSettings.sunrise_offset;
+            _state.effectiveDarkMinutes = _currentSettings.darkTime + _currentSettings.sunset_offset;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (_currentSettings.scheduleMode == ScheduleMode::FixedHours)
+    {
+        _state.effectiveLightMinutes = _currentSettings.lightTime;
+        _state.effectiveDarkMinutes = _currentSettings.darkTime;
+    }
+
+    // Handle manual override logic
+    if (_state.isManualOverride)
+    {
+        bool crossedBoundary = false;
+        if (_state.lastTickMinutes != -1)
+        {
+            int prev = _state.lastTickMinutes;
+
+            // Handle midnight wraparound safely
+            if (now < prev)
+            {
+                crossedBoundary =
+                    (prev <= _state.effectiveLightMinutes || now >= _state.effectiveLightMinutes) ||
+                    (prev <= _state.effectiveDarkMinutes || now >= _state.effectiveDarkMinutes);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                crossedBoundary =
+                    (prev < _state.effectiveLightMinutes && now >= _state.effectiveLightMinutes) ||
+                    (prev < _state.effectiveDarkMinutes && now >= _state.effectiveDarkMinutes);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (crossedBoundary)
+        {
+            Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Manual override cleared after crossing boundary.");
+            _state.isManualOverride = false;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Manual override active — skipping auto apply.");
+            _state.lastTickMinutes = now;
+            return;
+        }
+    }
+
+    _state.lastAppliedMode = _currentSettings.scheduleMode;
+
+    bool shouldBeLight = ShouldBeLight(now, _state.effectiveLightMinutes, _state.effectiveDarkMinutes);
+
+    bool appsNeedsToChange = _currentSettings.changeApps && (_state.isAppsLightActive != shouldBeLight);
+    bool systemNeedsToChange = _currentSettings.changeSystem && (_state.isSystemLightActive != shouldBeLight);
+
+    Logger::debug(
+        L"[LightSwitchStateManager] now = {:02d}:{:02d}, light boundary = {:02d}:{:02d} ({}), dark boundary = {:02d}:{:02d} ({})",
+        now / 60,
+        now % 60,
+        _state.effectiveLightMinutes / 60,
+        _state.effectiveLightMinutes % 60,
+        _state.effectiveLightMinutes,
+        _state.effectiveDarkMinutes / 60,
+        _state.effectiveDarkMinutes % 60,
+        _state.effectiveDarkMinutes);
+
+    Logger::debug("should be light = {}, apps needs change = {}, system needs change = {}",
+                  shouldBeLight ? "true" : "false",
+                  appsNeedsToChange ? "true" : "false",
+                  systemNeedsToChange ? "true" : "false");
+
+    // Only apply theme if there's a change or no override active
+    if (!_state.isManualOverride && (appsNeedsToChange || systemNeedsToChange))
+    {
+        Logger::info(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Applying {} theme", shouldBeLight ? L"light" : L"dark");
+        ApplyTheme(shouldBeLight);
+
+        _state.isSystemLightActive = GetCurrentSystemTheme();
+        _state.isAppsLightActive = GetCurrentAppsTheme();
+
+        Logger::debug(L"[LightSwitchStateManager] Synced post-apply theme state — System: {}, Apps: {}",
+                      _state.isSystemLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark",
+                      _state.isAppsLightActive ? L"light" : L"dark");
+    }
+
+    _state.lastTickMinutes = now;
+}
+
+
+

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchStateManager.h

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#pragma once
+#include "LightSwitchSettings.h"
+#include <optional>
+
+// Represents runtime-only information (not saved in settings.json)
+struct LightSwitchState
+{
+    ScheduleMode lastAppliedMode = ScheduleMode::Off;
+    bool isManualOverride = false;
+    bool isSystemLightActive = false;
+    bool isAppsLightActive = false;
+    int lastEvaluatedDay = -1;
+    int lastTickMinutes = -1;
+
+    // Derived, runtime-resolved times
+    int effectiveLightMinutes = 0; // the boundary we actually act on
+    int effectiveDarkMinutes = 0; // includes offsets if needed
+};
+
+// The controller that reacts to settings changes, time ticks, and manual overrides.
+class LightSwitchStateManager
+{
+public:
+    LightSwitchStateManager();
+
+    // Called when settings.json changes or stabilizes.
+    void OnSettingsChanged();
+
+    // Called every minute (from service worker tick).
+    void OnTick(int currentMinutes);
+
+    // Called when manual override is toggled (via shortcut or system change).
+    void OnManualOverride();
+
+    // Initial sync at startup to align internal state with system theme
+    void SyncInitialThemeState();
+
+    // Accessor for current state (optional, for debugging or telemetry)
+    const LightSwitchState& GetState() const { return _state; }
+
+private:
+    LightSwitchState _state;
+    std::mutex _stateMutex;
+
+    void EvaluateAndApplyIfNeeded();
+    bool CoordinatesAreValid(const std::wstring& lat, const std::wstring& lon);
+};

src/modules/LightSwitch/LightSwitchService/LightSwitchUtils.h

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#pragma once
+#include <windows.h>
+
+constexpr bool ShouldBeLight(int nowMinutes, int lightTime, int darkTime)
+{
+    // Normalize values into [0, 1439]
+    int normalizedLightTime = (lightTime % 1440 + 1440) % 1440;
+    int normalizedDarkTime = (darkTime % 1440 + 1440) % 1440;
+    int normalizedNowMinutes = (nowMinutes % 1440 + 1440) % 1440;
+
+    // Case 1: Normal range, e.g. light mode comes before dark mode in the same day
+    if (normalizedLightTime < normalizedDarkTime)
+        return normalizedNowMinutes >= normalizedLightTime && normalizedNowMinutes < normalizedDarkTime;
+
+    // Case 2: Wrap-around range, e.g. light mode starts in the evening and dark mode starts in the morning
+    return normalizedNowMinutes >= normalizedLightTime || normalizedNowMinutes < normalizedDarkTime;
+}
+
+inline int GetNowMinutes()
+{
+    SYSTEMTIME st;
+    GetLocalTime(&st);
+    return st.wHour * 60 + st.wMinute;
+}

src/modules/LightSwitch/Tests/LightSwitch.UITests/TestHelper.cs

@@ -152,16 +152,16 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
 
             var neededTabs = 6;
 
-            if (modeCombobox.Text != "Manual")
+            if (modeCombobox.Text != "Fixed hours")
             {
                 modeCombobox.Click();
                 var manualListItem = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("ManualCBItem_LightSwitch"), 5000);
-                Assert.IsNotNull(manualListItem, "Manual combobox item not found.");
+                Assert.IsNotNull(manualListItem, "Fixed Hours combobox item not found.");
                 manualListItem.Click();
                 neededTabs = 1;
             }
 
-            Assert.AreEqual("Manual", modeCombobox.Text, "Mode combobox should be set to Manual.");
+            Assert.AreEqual("Fixed hours", modeCombobox.Text, "Mode combobox should be set to Fixed hours.");
 
             var timeline = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("Timeline_LightSwitch"), 5000);
             Assert.IsNotNull(timeline, "Timeline not found.");
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Perform a update geolocation test operation
+        /// Perform a update manual location test operation
         /// </summary>
         public static void PerformUserSelectedLocationTest(UITestBase testBase)
         {
@@ -216,19 +216,22 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
 
             Assert.AreEqual("Sunset to sunrise", modeCombobox.Text, "Mode combobox should be set to Sunset to sunrise.");
 
+            // Click the select location button
             var setLocationButton = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("SetLocationButton_LightSwitch"), 5000);
             Assert.IsNotNull(setLocationButton, "Set location button not found.");
-            setLocationButton.Click();
+            setLocationButton.Click(msPostAction: 1000);
 
-            var autoSuggestTextbox = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("CitySearchBox_LightSwitch"), 5000);
-            Assert.IsNotNull(autoSuggestTextbox, "City search box not found.");
-            autoSuggestTextbox.Click();
-            autoSuggestTextbox.SendKeys("Seattle");
-            autoSuggestTextbox.SendKeys(OpenQA.Selenium.Keys.Down);
-            autoSuggestTextbox.SendKeys(OpenQA.Selenium.Keys.Enter);
+            var latitudeBox = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("LatitudeBox_LightSwitch"), 5000);
+            Assert.IsNotNull(latitudeBox, "Latitude text box not found.");
+            latitudeBox.Click();
 
-            var latLong = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("LocationResultText_LightSwitch"), 5000);
-            Assert.IsFalse(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(latLong.Text));
+            testBase.Session.SendKeys(Key.Up);
+
+            var longitudeBox = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("LongitudeBox_LightSwitch"), 5000);
+            Assert.IsNotNull(longitudeBox, "Longitude text box not found.");
+            longitudeBox.Click();
+
+            testBase.Session.SendKeys(Key.Down);
 
             var sunrise = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("SunriseText_LightSwitch"), 5000);
             Assert.IsFalse(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sunrise.Text));
@@ -256,13 +259,14 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
 
             Assert.AreEqual("Sunset to sunrise", modeCombobox.Text, "Mode combobox should be set to Sunset to sunrise.");
 
-            // Click the select city button
+            // Click the select location button
             var setLocationButton = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("SetLocationButton_LightSwitch"), 5000);
             Assert.IsNotNull(setLocationButton, "Set location button not found.");
-            setLocationButton.Click(msPostAction: 8000);
+            setLocationButton.Click(msPostAction: 1000);
 
-            var latLong = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("LocationResultText_LightSwitch"), 5000);
-            Assert.IsFalse(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(latLong.Text));
+            var syncLocationButton = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("SyncLocationButton_LightSwitch"), 5000);
+            Assert.IsNotNull(syncLocationButton, "Sync location button not found.");
+            syncLocationButton.Click(msPostAction: 8000);
 
             var sunrise = testBase.Session.Find<Element>(By.AccessibilityId("SunriseText_LightSwitch"), 5000);
             Assert.IsFalse(string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(sunrise.Text));
@@ -363,6 +367,7 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
             var systemBeforeValue = GetSystemTheme();
             var appsBeforeValue = GetAppsTheme();
 
+            Task.Delay(1000).Wait();
             testBase.Session.SendKeys(activationKeys);
             Task.Delay(5000).Wait();
 
@@ -389,6 +394,7 @@ namespace LightSwitch.UITests
             var noneSystemBeforeValue = GetSystemTheme();
             var noneAppsBeforeValue = GetAppsTheme();
 
+            Task.Delay(1000).Wait();
             testBase.Session.SendKeys(activationKeys);
             Task.Delay(5000).Wait();
 

src/modules/MouseUtils/CursorWrap/dllmain.cpp

@@ -196,10 +196,10 @@ public:
         m_enabled = true;
         Trace::EnableCursorWrap(true);
         
-        if (m_autoActivate)
-        {
-            StartMouseHook();
-        }
+        // Always start the mouse hook when the module is enabled
+        // This ensures cursor wrapping is active immediately after enabling
+        StartMouseHook();
+        Logger::info("CursorWrap enabled - mouse hook started");
     }
 
     // Disable the powertoy
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@ public:
         m_enabled = false;
         Trace::EnableCursorWrap(false);
         StopMouseHook();
+        Logger::info("CursorWrap disabled - mouse hook stopped");
     }
 
     // Returns if the powertoys is enabled

src/modules/MouseUtils/FindMyMouse/FindMyMouse.vcxproj

@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>

src/modules/MouseUtils/MouseHighlighter/MouseHighlighter.vcxproj

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>

src/modules/MouseUtils/MouseJump/MouseJump.vcxproj

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>

src/modules/MouseUtils/MousePointerCrosshairs/MousePointerCrosshairs.vcxproj

@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>

src/modules/NewPlus/NewShellExtensionContextMenu.win10/NewPlus.ShellExtension.win10.vcxproj

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;NEWPLUSSHELLEXTENSIONWIN10_EXPORTS;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
       <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\common\Telemetry;..\..\;..\..\..\;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories);..\NewShellExtensionContextMenu</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\common\Telemetry;..\..\;..\..\..\;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories);..\NewShellExtensionContextMenu;$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <CompileAsWinRT>false</CompileAsWinRT>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;NEWPLUSSHELLEXTENSIONWIN10_EXPORTS;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <ConformanceMode>true</ConformanceMode>
       <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\common\Telemetry;..\..\;..\..\..\;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories);..\NewShellExtensionContextMenu</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\..\..\common\Telemetry;..\..\;..\..\..\;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories);..\NewShellExtensionContextMenu;$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <CompileAsWinRT>false</CompileAsWinRT>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpplatest</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/NewPlus/NewShellExtensionContextMenu/NewShellExtensionContextMenu.vcxproj

@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@
       <EnableUAC>false</EnableUAC>
       <ModuleDefinitionFile>dll.def</ModuleDefinitionFile>
       <AdditionalDependencies>runtimeobject.lib;$(CoreLibraryDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      </IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
     </Link>
     <PreBuildEvent>
       <Command>del $(OutDir)\NewPlusPackage.msix /q
@@ -98,6 +100,8 @@ MakeAppx.exe pack /d . /p $(OutDir)NewPlusPackage.msix /nv</Command>
       <EnableUAC>false</EnableUAC>
       <ModuleDefinitionFile>dll.def</ModuleDefinitionFile>
       <AdditionalDependencies>runtimeobject.lib;$(CoreLibraryDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      </IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
     </Link>
     <PreBuildEvent>
       <Command>del $(OutDir)\NewPlusPackage.msix /q

src/modules/Workspaces/WorkspacesLauncher/WorkspacesLauncher.vcxproj

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/Workspaces/WorkspacesSnapshotTool/WorkspacesSnapshotTool.vcxproj

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/Workspaces/WorkspacesWindowArranger/WorkspacesWindowArranger.vcxproj

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/GifRecordingSession.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,548 @@
+//==============================================================================
+//
+// Zoomit
+// Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
+//
+// GIF recording support using Windows Imaging Component (WIC)
+//
+//==============================================================================
+#include "pch.h"
+#include "GifRecordingSession.h"
+#include "CaptureFrameWait.h"
+#include <shcore.h>
+
+extern DWORD g_RecordScaling;
+
+namespace winrt
+{
+    using namespace Windows::Foundation;
+    using namespace Windows::Graphics;
+    using namespace Windows::Graphics::Capture;
+    using namespace Windows::Graphics::DirectX;
+    using namespace Windows::Graphics::DirectX::Direct3D11;
+    using namespace Windows::Storage;
+    using namespace Windows::UI::Composition;
+}
+
+namespace util
+{
+    using namespace robmikh::common::uwp;
+}
+
+const float CLEAR_COLOR[] = { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f };
+
+int32_t EnsureEvenGif(int32_t value)
+{
+    if (value % 2 == 0)
+    {
+        return value;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        return value + 1;
+    }
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::GifRecordingSession
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+GifRecordingSession::GifRecordingSession(
+    winrt::IDirect3DDevice const& device,
+    winrt::GraphicsCaptureItem const& item,
+    RECT const cropRect,
+    uint32_t frameRate,
+    winrt::Streams::IRandomAccessStream const& stream)
+{
+    m_device = device;
+    m_d3dDevice = GetDXGIInterfaceFromObject<ID3D11Device>(m_device);
+    m_d3dDevice->GetImmediateContext(m_d3dContext.put());
+    m_item = item;
+    m_frameRate = frameRate;
+    m_stream = stream;
+
+    auto itemSize = item.Size();
+    auto inputWidth = EnsureEvenGif(itemSize.Width);
+    auto inputHeight = EnsureEvenGif(itemSize.Height);
+    m_frameWait = std::make_shared<CaptureFrameWait>(m_device, m_item, winrt::SizeInt32{ inputWidth, inputHeight });
+    auto weakPointer{ std::weak_ptr{ m_frameWait } };
+    m_itemClosed = item.Closed(winrt::auto_revoke, [weakPointer](auto&, auto&)
+        {
+            auto sharedPointer{ weakPointer.lock() };
+            if (sharedPointer)
+            {
+                sharedPointer->StopCapture();
+            }
+        });
+
+    // Get crop dimension
+    if ((cropRect.right - cropRect.left) != 0)
+    {
+        m_rcCrop = cropRect;
+        m_frameWait->ShowCaptureBorder(false);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        m_rcCrop.left = 0;
+        m_rcCrop.top = 0;
+        m_rcCrop.right = inputWidth;
+        m_rcCrop.bottom = inputHeight;
+    }
+
+    // Apply scaling
+    constexpr int c_minimumSize = 34;
+    auto scaledWidth = MulDiv(m_rcCrop.right - m_rcCrop.left, g_RecordScaling, 100);
+    auto scaledHeight = MulDiv(m_rcCrop.bottom - m_rcCrop.top, g_RecordScaling, 100);
+    m_width = scaledWidth;
+    m_height = scaledHeight;
+    if (m_width < c_minimumSize)
+    {
+        m_width = c_minimumSize;
+        m_height = MulDiv(m_height, m_width, scaledWidth);
+    }
+    if (m_height < c_minimumSize)
+    {
+        m_height = c_minimumSize;
+        m_width = MulDiv(m_width, m_height, scaledHeight);
+    }
+    if (m_width > inputWidth)
+    {
+        m_width = inputWidth;
+        m_height = c_minimumSize, MulDiv(m_height, scaledWidth, m_width);
+    }
+    if (m_height > inputHeight)
+    {
+        m_height = inputHeight;
+        m_width = c_minimumSize, MulDiv(m_width, scaledHeight, m_height);
+    }
+    m_width = EnsureEvenGif(m_width);
+    m_height = EnsureEvenGif(m_height);
+
+    m_frameDelay = (frameRate > 0) ? (100 / frameRate) : 15;
+
+    // Initialize WIC
+    winrt::check_hresult(CoCreateInstance(
+        CLSID_WICImagingFactory,
+        nullptr,
+        CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
+        IID_PPV_ARGS(m_wicFactory.put())));
+
+    // Create WIC stream from IRandomAccessStream
+    winrt::check_hresult(m_wicFactory->CreateStream(m_wicStream.put()));
+
+    // Get the IStream from the IRandomAccessStream
+    winrt::com_ptr<IStream> streamInterop;
+    winrt::check_hresult(CreateStreamOverRandomAccessStream(
+        winrt::get_unknown(stream),
+        IID_PPV_ARGS(streamInterop.put())));
+    winrt::check_hresult(m_wicStream->InitializeFromIStream(streamInterop.get()));
+
+    // Create GIF encoder
+    winrt::check_hresult(m_wicFactory->CreateEncoder(
+        GUID_ContainerFormatGif,
+        nullptr,
+        m_gifEncoder.put()));
+
+    winrt::check_hresult(m_gifEncoder->Initialize(m_wicStream.get(), WICBitmapEncoderNoCache));
+
+    // Set global GIF metadata for looping (NETSCAPE2.0 application extension)
+    try
+    {
+        winrt::com_ptr<IWICMetadataQueryWriter> encoderMetadataWriter;
+        if (SUCCEEDED(m_gifEncoder->GetMetadataQueryWriter(encoderMetadataWriter.put())) && encoderMetadataWriter)
+        {
+            OutputDebugStringW(L"Setting NETSCAPE2.0 looping extension on encoder...\n");
+
+            // Set application extension
+            PROPVARIANT propValue;
+            PropVariantInit(&propValue);
+            propValue.vt = VT_UI1 | VT_VECTOR;
+            propValue.caub.cElems = 11;
+            propValue.caub.pElems = static_cast<UCHAR*>(CoTaskMemAlloc(11));
+            if (propValue.caub.pElems != nullptr)
+            {
+                memcpy(propValue.caub.pElems, "NETSCAPE2.0", 11);
+                HRESULT hr = encoderMetadataWriter->SetMetadataByName(L"/appext/application", &propValue);
+                if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
+                {
+                    OutputDebugStringW(L"Encoder application extension set successfully\n");
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    OutputDebugStringW(L"Failed to set encoder application extension\n");
+                }
+                PropVariantClear(&propValue);
+
+                // Set loop count (0 = infinite)
+                PropVariantInit(&propValue);
+                propValue.vt = VT_UI1 | VT_VECTOR;
+                propValue.caub.cElems = 5;
+                propValue.caub.pElems = static_cast<UCHAR*>(CoTaskMemAlloc(5));
+                if (propValue.caub.pElems != nullptr)
+                {
+                    propValue.caub.pElems[0] = 3;
+                    propValue.caub.pElems[1] = 1;
+                    propValue.caub.pElems[2] = 0;
+                    propValue.caub.pElems[3] = 0;
+                    propValue.caub.pElems[4] = 0;
+                    hr = encoderMetadataWriter->SetMetadataByName(L"/appext/data", &propValue);
+                    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
+                    {
+                        OutputDebugStringW(L"Encoder loop count set successfully\n");
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        OutputDebugStringW(L"Failed to set encoder loop count\n");
+                    }
+                    PropVariantClear(&propValue);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            OutputDebugStringW(L"Failed to get encoder metadata writer\n");
+        }
+    }
+    catch (...)
+    {
+        OutputDebugStringW(L"Warning: Failed to set GIF encoder looping metadata\n");
+    }
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::~GifRecordingSession
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+GifRecordingSession::~GifRecordingSession()
+{
+    Close();
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::Create
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+std::shared_ptr<GifRecordingSession> GifRecordingSession::Create(
+    winrt::IDirect3DDevice const& device,
+    winrt::GraphicsCaptureItem const& item,
+    RECT const& crop,
+    uint32_t frameRate,
+    winrt::Streams::IRandomAccessStream const& stream)
+{
+    return std::shared_ptr<GifRecordingSession>(new GifRecordingSession(device, item, crop, frameRate, stream));
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::EncodeFrame
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+HRESULT GifRecordingSession::EncodeFrame(ID3D11Texture2D* frameTexture)
+{
+    try
+    {
+        // Create a staging texture for CPU access
+        D3D11_TEXTURE2D_DESC frameDesc;
+        frameTexture->GetDesc(&frameDesc);
+
+        // GIF encoding with palette generation is VERY slow at high resolutions (4K takes 1 second per frame!)
+
+        UINT targetWidth = frameDesc.Width;
+        UINT targetHeight = frameDesc.Height;
+
+        if (frameDesc.Width > static_cast<uint32_t>(m_width) || frameDesc.Height > static_cast<uint32_t>(m_height))
+        {
+            float scaleX = static_cast<float>(m_width) / frameDesc.Width;
+            float scaleY = static_cast<float>(m_height) / frameDesc.Height;
+            float scale = min(scaleX, scaleY);
+
+            targetWidth = static_cast<UINT>(frameDesc.Width * scale);
+            targetHeight = static_cast<UINT>(frameDesc.Height * scale);
+
+            // Ensure even dimensions for GIF
+            targetWidth = (targetWidth / 2) * 2;
+            targetHeight = (targetHeight / 2) * 2;
+        }
+
+        D3D11_TEXTURE2D_DESC stagingDesc = frameDesc;
+        stagingDesc.Usage = D3D11_USAGE_STAGING;
+        stagingDesc.BindFlags = 0;
+        stagingDesc.CPUAccessFlags = D3D11_CPU_ACCESS_READ;
+        stagingDesc.MiscFlags = 0;
+
+        winrt::com_ptr<ID3D11Texture2D> stagingTexture;
+        winrt::check_hresult(m_d3dDevice->CreateTexture2D(&stagingDesc, nullptr, stagingTexture.put()));
+
+        // Copy the frame to staging texture
+        m_d3dContext->CopyResource(stagingTexture.get(), frameTexture);
+
+        // Map the staging texture
+        D3D11_MAPPED_SUBRESOURCE mappedResource;
+        winrt::check_hresult(m_d3dContext->Map(stagingTexture.get(), 0, D3D11_MAP_READ, 0, &mappedResource));
+
+        // Create a new frame in the GIF
+        winrt::com_ptr<IWICBitmapFrameEncode> frameEncode;
+        winrt::com_ptr<IPropertyBag2> propertyBag;
+        winrt::check_hresult(m_gifEncoder->CreateNewFrame(frameEncode.put(), propertyBag.put()));
+
+        // Initialize the frame encoder with property bag
+        winrt::check_hresult(frameEncode->Initialize(propertyBag.get()));
+
+        // CRITICAL: For GIF, we MUST set size and pixel format BEFORE WriteSource
+        // Use target dimensions (may be downsampled)
+        winrt::check_hresult(frameEncode->SetSize(targetWidth, targetHeight));
+
+        // Set the pixel format to 8-bit indexed (required for GIF)
+        WICPixelFormatGUID pixelFormat = GUID_WICPixelFormat8bppIndexed;
+        winrt::check_hresult(frameEncode->SetPixelFormat(&pixelFormat));
+
+        // Create a WIC bitmap from the BGRA texture data
+        winrt::com_ptr<IWICBitmap> sourceBitmap;
+        winrt::check_hresult(m_wicFactory->CreateBitmapFromMemory(
+            frameDesc.Width,
+            frameDesc.Height,
+            GUID_WICPixelFormat32bppBGRA,
+            mappedResource.RowPitch,
+            frameDesc.Height * mappedResource.RowPitch,
+            static_cast<BYTE*>(mappedResource.pData),
+            sourceBitmap.put()));
+
+        // If we need downsampling, use WIC scaler
+        winrt::com_ptr<IWICBitmapSource> finalSource = sourceBitmap;
+        if (targetWidth != frameDesc.Width || targetHeight != frameDesc.Height)
+        {
+            winrt::com_ptr<IWICBitmapScaler> scaler;
+            winrt::check_hresult(m_wicFactory->CreateBitmapScaler(scaler.put()));
+            winrt::check_hresult(scaler->Initialize(
+                sourceBitmap.get(),
+                targetWidth,
+                targetHeight,
+                WICBitmapInterpolationModeHighQualityCubic));
+            finalSource = scaler;
+
+            OutputDebugStringW((L"Downsampled from " + std::to_wstring(frameDesc.Width) + L"x" + std::to_wstring(frameDesc.Height) +
+                               L" to " + std::to_wstring(targetWidth) + L"x" + std::to_wstring(targetHeight) + L"\n").c_str());
+        }
+
+        // Use WriteSource - WIC will handle the BGRA to 8bpp indexed conversion
+        winrt::check_hresult(frameEncode->WriteSource(finalSource.get(), nullptr));
+
+        try
+        {
+            winrt::com_ptr<IWICMetadataQueryWriter> frameMetadataWriter;
+            if (SUCCEEDED(frameEncode->GetMetadataQueryWriter(frameMetadataWriter.put())) && frameMetadataWriter)
+            {
+                // Set the frame delay in the metadata (in hundredths of a second)
+                PROPVARIANT propValue;
+                PropVariantInit(&propValue);
+                propValue.vt = VT_UI2;
+                propValue.uiVal = static_cast<USHORT>(m_frameDelay);
+                frameMetadataWriter->SetMetadataByName(L"/grctlext/Delay", &propValue);
+                PropVariantClear(&propValue);
+
+                // Set disposal method (2 = restore to background, needed for animation)
+                PropVariantInit(&propValue);
+                propValue.vt = VT_UI1;
+                propValue.bVal = 2; // Disposal method: restore to background color
+                frameMetadataWriter->SetMetadataByName(L"/grctlext/Disposal", &propValue);
+                PropVariantClear(&propValue);
+            }
+        }
+        catch (...)
+        {
+            // Metadata setting failed, continue anyway
+            OutputDebugStringW(L"Warning: Failed to set GIF frame metadata\n");
+        }
+
+        // Commit the frame
+        OutputDebugStringW(L"About to commit frame to encoder...\n");
+        winrt::check_hresult(frameEncode->Commit());
+        OutputDebugStringW(L"Frame committed successfully\n");
+
+        // Unmap the staging texture
+        m_d3dContext->Unmap(stagingTexture.get(), 0);
+
+        // Increment and log frame count
+        m_frameCount++;
+        OutputDebugStringW((L"GIF Frame #" + std::to_wstring(m_frameCount) + L" fully encoded and committed\n").c_str());
+
+        return S_OK;
+    }
+    catch (const winrt::hresult_error& error)
+    {
+        OutputDebugStringW(error.message().c_str());
+        return error.code();
+    }
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::StartAsync
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+winrt::IAsyncAction GifRecordingSession::StartAsync()
+{
+    auto expected = false;
+    if (m_isRecording.compare_exchange_strong(expected, true))
+    {
+        auto self = shared_from_this();
+
+        try
+        {
+            // Start capturing frames
+            auto frameStartTime = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+            int captureAttempts = 0;
+            int successfulCaptures = 0;
+            int duplicatedFrames = 0;
+
+            // Keep track of the last frame to duplicate when needed
+            winrt::com_ptr<ID3D11Texture2D> lastCroppedTexture;
+
+            while (m_isRecording && !m_closed)
+            {
+                captureAttempts++;
+                auto frame = m_frameWait->TryGetNextFrame();
+
+                winrt::com_ptr<ID3D11Texture2D> croppedTexture;
+
+                if (frame)
+                {
+                    successfulCaptures++;
+                    auto contentSize = frame->ContentSize;
+                    auto frameTexture = GetDXGIInterfaceFromObject<ID3D11Texture2D>(frame->FrameTexture);
+                    D3D11_TEXTURE2D_DESC desc = {};
+                    frameTexture->GetDesc(&desc);
+
+                    // Use the smaller of the crop size or content size
+                    auto width = min(m_rcCrop.right - m_rcCrop.left, contentSize.Width);
+                    auto height = min(m_rcCrop.bottom - m_rcCrop.top, contentSize.Height);
+
+                    D3D11_TEXTURE2D_DESC croppedDesc = {};
+                    croppedDesc.Width = width;
+                    croppedDesc.Height = height;
+                    croppedDesc.MipLevels = 1;
+                    croppedDesc.ArraySize = 1;
+                    croppedDesc.Format = DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM;
+                    croppedDesc.SampleDesc.Count = 1;
+                    croppedDesc.Usage = D3D11_USAGE_DEFAULT;
+                    croppedDesc.BindFlags = D3D11_BIND_RENDER_TARGET;
+
+                    winrt::check_hresult(m_d3dDevice->CreateTexture2D(&croppedDesc, nullptr, croppedTexture.put()));
+
+                    // Set the content region to copy and clamp the coordinates
+                    D3D11_BOX region = {};
+                    region.left = std::clamp(m_rcCrop.left, static_cast<LONG>(0), static_cast<LONG>(desc.Width));
+                    region.right = std::clamp(m_rcCrop.left + width, static_cast<LONG>(0), static_cast<LONG>(desc.Width));
+                    region.top = std::clamp(m_rcCrop.top, static_cast<LONG>(0), static_cast<LONG>(desc.Height));
+                    region.bottom = std::clamp(m_rcCrop.top + height, static_cast<LONG>(0), static_cast<LONG>(desc.Height));
+                    region.back = 1;
+
+                    // Copy the cropped region
+                    m_d3dContext->CopySubresourceRegion(
+                        croppedTexture.get(),
+                        0,
+                        0, 0, 0,
+                        frameTexture.get(),
+                        0,
+                        &region);
+
+                    // Save this as the last frame for duplication
+                    lastCroppedTexture = croppedTexture;
+                }
+                else if (lastCroppedTexture)
+                {
+                    // No new frame, duplicate the last one
+                    duplicatedFrames++;
+                    croppedTexture = lastCroppedTexture;
+                }
+
+                // Encode the frame (either new or duplicated)
+                if (croppedTexture)
+                {
+                    HRESULT hr = EncodeFrame(croppedTexture.get());
+                    if (FAILED(hr))
+                    {
+                        CloseInternal();
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+
+                // Wait for the next frame interval
+                co_await winrt::resume_after(std::chrono::milliseconds(1000 / m_frameRate));
+            }
+
+            // Commit the GIF encoder
+            if (m_gifEncoder)
+            {
+                auto frameEndTime = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+                auto duration = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(frameEndTime - frameStartTime).count();
+
+                OutputDebugStringW(L"Recording stopped. Committing GIF encoder...\n");
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Total frames captured: " + std::to_wstring(m_frameCount) + L"\n").c_str());
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Capture attempts: " + std::to_wstring(captureAttempts) + L"\n").c_str());
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Successful captures: " + std::to_wstring(successfulCaptures) + L"\n").c_str());
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Duplicated frames: " + std::to_wstring(duplicatedFrames) + L"\n").c_str());
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Recording duration: " + std::to_wstring(duration) + L"ms\n").c_str());
+                OutputDebugStringW((L"Actual FPS: " + std::to_wstring(m_frameCount * 1000.0 / duration) + L"\n").c_str());
+
+                winrt::check_hresult(m_gifEncoder->Commit());
+                OutputDebugStringW(L"GIF encoder committed successfully\n");
+            }
+        }
+        catch (const winrt::hresult_error& error)
+        {
+            OutputDebugStringW(L"Error in GIF recording: ");
+            OutputDebugStringW(error.message().c_str());
+            OutputDebugStringW(L"\n");
+
+            // Try to commit the encoder even on error
+            if (m_gifEncoder)
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    m_gifEncoder->Commit();
+                }
+                catch (...) {}
+            }
+
+            CloseInternal();
+        }
+    }
+    co_return;
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::Close
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+void GifRecordingSession::Close()
+{
+    auto expected = false;
+    if (m_closed.compare_exchange_strong(expected, true))
+    {
+        expected = true;
+        if (!m_isRecording.compare_exchange_strong(expected, false))
+        {
+            CloseInternal();
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            m_frameWait->StopCapture();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+//
+// GifRecordingSession::CloseInternal
+//
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+void GifRecordingSession::CloseInternal()
+{
+    m_frameWait->StopCapture();
+    m_itemClosed.revoke();
+}

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/GifRecordingSession.h

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+//==============================================================================
+//
+// Zoomit
+// Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
+//
+// GIF recording support using Windows Imaging Component (WIC)
+//
+//==============================================================================
+#pragma once
+
+#include "CaptureFrameWait.h"
+#include <d3d11_4.h>
+#include <vector>
+
+class GifRecordingSession : public std::enable_shared_from_this<GifRecordingSession>
+{
+public:
+    [[nodiscard]] static std::shared_ptr<GifRecordingSession> Create(
+        winrt::Direct3D11::IDirect3DDevice const& device,
+        winrt::GraphicsCaptureItem const& item,
+        RECT const& cropRect,
+        uint32_t frameRate,
+        winrt::Streams::IRandomAccessStream const& stream);
+    ~GifRecordingSession();
+
+    winrt::IAsyncAction StartAsync();
+    void EnableCursorCapture(bool enable = true) { m_frameWait->EnableCursorCapture(enable); }
+    void Close();
+
+private:
+    GifRecordingSession(
+        winrt::Direct3D11::IDirect3DDevice const& device,
+        winrt::Capture::GraphicsCaptureItem const& item,
+        RECT const cropRect,
+        uint32_t frameRate,
+        winrt::Streams::IRandomAccessStream const& stream);
+    void CloseInternal();
+    HRESULT EncodeFrame(ID3D11Texture2D* texture);
+
+private:
+    winrt::Direct3D11::IDirect3DDevice m_device{ nullptr };
+    winrt::com_ptr<ID3D11Device> m_d3dDevice;
+    winrt::com_ptr<ID3D11DeviceContext> m_d3dContext;
+    RECT m_rcCrop;
+    uint32_t m_frameRate;
+
+    winrt::GraphicsCaptureItem m_item{ nullptr };
+    winrt::GraphicsCaptureItem::Closed_revoker m_itemClosed;
+    std::shared_ptr<CaptureFrameWait> m_frameWait;
+
+    winrt::Streams::IRandomAccessStream m_stream{ nullptr };
+
+    // WIC components for GIF encoding
+    winrt::com_ptr<IWICImagingFactory> m_wicFactory;
+    winrt::com_ptr<IWICStream> m_wicStream;
+    winrt::com_ptr<IWICBitmapEncoder> m_gifEncoder;
+    winrt::com_ptr<IWICMetadataQueryWriter> m_encoderMetadataWriter;
+
+    std::atomic<bool> m_isRecording = false;
+    std::atomic<bool> m_closed = false;
+
+    uint32_t m_frameWidth=0;
+    uint32_t m_frameHeight=0;
+    uint32_t m_frameDelay=0;
+    uint32_t m_frameCount = 0;
+
+    int32_t m_width=0;
+    int32_t m_height=0;
+};

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/ZoomIt.rc

@@ -32,18 +32,18 @@ LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
 // TEXTINCLUDE
 //
 
-1 TEXTINCLUDE 
+1 TEXTINCLUDE
 BEGIN
     "resource.h\0"
 END
 
-2 TEXTINCLUDE 
+2 TEXTINCLUDE
 BEGIN
     "#include ""winres.h""\r\n"
     "\0"
 END
 
-3 TEXTINCLUDE 
+3 TEXTINCLUDE
 BEGIN
     "#include ""binres.rc""\0"
 END
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ FONT 8, "MS Shell Dlg", 0, 0, 0x0
 BEGIN
     DEFPUSHBUTTON   "OK",IDOK,166,306,50,14
     PUSHBUTTON      "Cancel",IDCANCEL,223,306,50,14
-    LTEXT           "ZoomIt v9.10",IDC_VERSION,42,7,73,10
+    LTEXT           "ZoomIt v9.20",IDC_VERSION,42,7,73,10
     LTEXT           "Copyright © 2006-2025 Mark Russinovich",IDC_COPYRIGHT,42,17,231,8
     CONTROL         "<a HREF=""https://www.sysinternals.com"">Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com</a>",IDC_LINK,
                     "SysLink",WS_TABSTOP,42,26,150,9
@@ -272,13 +272,15 @@ BEGIN
     LTEXT           "Note: Recording is only available on Windows 10 (version 1903) and higher.",IDC_STATIC,7,77,246,19
     LTEXT           "Scaling:",IDC_STATIC,30,115,26,8
     COMBOBOX        IDC_RECORD_SCALING,61,114,26,30,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | CBS_OEMCONVERT | CBS_SORT | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP
+    LTEXT           "Format:",IDC_STATIC,30,132,26,8
+    COMBOBOX        IDC_RECORD_FORMAT,61,131,60,30,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | CBS_OEMCONVERT | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP
     LTEXT           "Frame Rate:",IDC_STATIC,119,115,44,8,NOT WS_VISIBLE
     COMBOBOX        IDC_RECORD_FRAME_RATE,166,114,42,30,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | CBS_AUTOHSCROLL | CBS_OEMCONVERT | CBS_SORT | NOT WS_VISIBLE | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP
     LTEXT           "To crop the portion of the screen that will be recorded, enter the hotkey with the Shift key in the opposite mode. ",IDC_STATIC,7,32,246,19
     LTEXT           "To record a specific window, enter the hotkey with the Alt key in the opposite mode.",IDC_STATIC,7,55,246,19
-    CONTROL         "&Capture audio input:",IDC_CAPTURE_AUDIO,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | BS_LEFTTEXT | WS_TABSTOP,7,137,83,10
-    COMBOBOX        IDC_MICROPHONE,81,152,172,30,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP
-    LTEXT           "Microphone:",IDC_STATIC,32,154,47,8
+    CONTROL         "&Capture audio input:",IDC_CAPTURE_AUDIO,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | BS_LEFTTEXT | WS_TABSTOP,7,149,83,10
+    COMBOBOX        IDC_MICROPHONE,81,164,172,30,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | WS_VSCROLL | WS_TABSTOP
+    LTEXT           "Microphone:",IDC_STATIC,32,166,47,8
 END
 
 SNIP DIALOGEX 0, 0, 260, 68

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/ZoomIt.vcxproj

@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x602;NDEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x501;WIN32;_WINDOWS;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x602;NDEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x501;WIN32;_WINDOWS;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
@@ -124,6 +126,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x602;NDEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x501;WIN32;_WINDOWS;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <StringPooling>true</StringPooling>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
@@ -145,6 +148,7 @@
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x0602;_DEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602.MSVC6;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x600;WIN32;_WINDOWS;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_M_IX86;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
@@ -165,6 +169,7 @@
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x0602;_DEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602.MSVC6;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x600;WIN32;_WINDOWS;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_M_X64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
@@ -186,6 +191,7 @@
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>__ZOOMIT_POWERTOYS__;_UNICODE;UNICODE;WINVER=0x0602;_DEBUG;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602.MSVC6;_WIN32_WINDOWS=0x600;WIN32;_WINDOWS;_WIN32_WINNT=0x602;MSVC6=1;_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <ResourceCompile>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;_M_ARM64;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
@@ -234,6 +240,7 @@
       <PrecompiledHeader Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">NotUsing</PrecompiledHeader>
       <PrecompiledHeader Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">NotUsing</PrecompiledHeader>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile Include="GifRecordingSession.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="pch.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="SelectRectangle.cpp">
       <PrecompiledHeader Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">Use</PrecompiledHeader>
@@ -288,6 +295,7 @@
     <ClInclude Include="AudioSampleGenerator.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\..\common\sysinternals\Eula\Eula.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\ZoomItModuleInterface\Trace.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="GifRecordingSession.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="pch.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Registry.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="resource.h" />

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/ZoomIt.vcxproj.filters

@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@
     <ClCompile Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\..\common\sysinternals\WindowsVersions.cpp">
       <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile Include="GifRecordingSession.cpp">
+      <Filter>Source Files</Filter>
+    </ClCompile>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClInclude Include="Registry.h">
@@ -95,6 +98,9 @@
     <ClInclude Include="ZoomItSettings.h">
       <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
     </ClInclude>
+    <ClInclude Include="GifRecordingSession.h">
+      <Filter>Header Files</Filter>
+    </ClInclude>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Image Include="appicon.ico">

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/ZoomItSettings.h

@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@
 #include "Registry.h"
 #include "DemoType.h"
 
+// Recording format enum
+enum class RecordingFormat
+{
+    GIF = 0,
+    MP4 = 1
+};
+
 DWORD	g_ToggleKey = (HOTKEYF_CONTROL << 8)| '1';
 DWORD	g_LiveZoomToggleKey = ((HOTKEYF_CONTROL) << 8)| '4';
 DWORD	g_DrawToggleKey = ((HOTKEYF_CONTROL) << 8)| '2';
@@ -38,8 +45,10 @@ BOOLEAN g_DemoTypeUserDriven = false;
 TCHAR   g_DemoTypeFile[MAX_PATH] = {0};
 DWORD	g_DemoTypeSpeedSlider = static_cast<int>(((MIN_TYPING_SPEED - MAX_TYPING_SPEED) / 2) + MAX_TYPING_SPEED);
 DWORD	g_RecordFrameRate = 30;
-// Divide by 100 to get actual scaling
-DWORD	g_RecordScaling = 100; 
+DWORD	g_RecordScaling = 100;
+DWORD	g_RecordScalingGIF = 50;
+DWORD	g_RecordScalingMP4 = 100;
+RecordingFormat g_RecordingFormat = RecordingFormat::GIF;
 BOOLEAN g_CaptureAudio = FALSE;
 TCHAR	g_MicrophoneDeviceId[MAX_PATH] = {0};
 
@@ -79,7 +88,9 @@ REG_SETTING RegSettings[] = {
     { L"ZoominSliderLevel", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_SliderZoomLevel, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_SliderZoomLevel) },
     { L"Font", SETTING_TYPE_BINARY, sizeof g_LogFont, &g_LogFont, static_cast<DOUBLE>(0) },
     { L"RecordFrameRate", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_RecordFrameRate, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_RecordFrameRate) },
-    { L"RecordScaling", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_RecordScaling, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_RecordScaling) },
+    { L"RecordingFormat", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_RecordingFormat, static_cast<DOUBLE>(0) },
+    { L"RecordScalingGIF", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_RecordScalingGIF, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_RecordScalingGIF) },
+    { L"RecordScalingMP4", SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, &g_RecordScalingMP4, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_RecordScalingMP4) },
     { L"CaptureAudio", SETTING_TYPE_BOOLEAN, 0, &g_CaptureAudio, static_cast<DOUBLE>(g_CaptureAudio) },
     { L"MicrophoneDeviceId", SETTING_TYPE_STRING, sizeof(g_MicrophoneDeviceId), g_MicrophoneDeviceId, static_cast<DOUBLE>(0) },
     { NULL, SETTING_TYPE_DWORD, 0, NULL, static_cast<DOUBLE>(0) }

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomIt/resource.h

@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
 #define IDC_DEMOTYPE_SLIDER2            1074
 #define IDC_DEMOTYPE_STATIC2            1074
 #define IDC_COPYRIGHT                   1075
+#define IDC_RECORD_FORMAT               1076
 #define IDC_PEN_WIDTH                   1105
 #define IDC_TIMER                       1106
 #define IDC_SMOOTH_IMAGE				1107

src/modules/ZoomIt/ZoomItSettingsInterop/ZoomItSettings.cpp

@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
     const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_SHORTCUT = 1;
     const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_COLOR = 2;
     const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_LOG_FONT = 3;
+    const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORDING_FORMAT = 4;
+    const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORD_SCALING_GIF = 5;
+    const unsigned int SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORD_SCALING_MP4 = 6;
 
     std::vector<unsigned char> base64_decode(const std::wstring& base64_string)
     {
@@ -72,6 +75,9 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
         { L"PenColor", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_COLOR },
         { L"BreakPenColor", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_COLOR },
         { L"Font", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_LOG_FONT },
+        { L"RecordingFormat", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORDING_FORMAT },
+        { L"RecordScalingGIF", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORD_SCALING_GIF },
+        { L"RecordScalingMP4", SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORD_SCALING_MP4 },
     };
 
     hstring ZoomItSettings::LoadSettingsJson()
@@ -103,6 +109,11 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
                             value & 0xFF);
                         _settings.add_property(curSetting->ValueName, hotkey.get_json());
                     }
+                    else if (special_semantics->second == SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORDING_FORMAT)
+                    {
+                        std::wstring formatString = (value == 0) ? L"GIF" : L"MP4";
+                        _settings.add_property(L"RecordFormat", formatString);
+                    }
                     else if (special_semantics->second == SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_COLOR)
                     {
                         /* PowerToys settings likes colors as #FFFFFF strings.
@@ -156,6 +167,9 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
             curSetting++;
         }
 
+        DWORD recordScaling = (g_RecordingFormat == static_cast<RecordingFormat>(0)) ? g_RecordScalingGIF : g_RecordScalingMP4;
+        _settings.add_property<DWORD>(L"RecordScaling", recordScaling);
+
         return _settings.get_raw_json().Stringify();
     }
 
@@ -167,6 +181,8 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
         PowerToysSettings::PowerToyValues valuesFromSettings =
             PowerToysSettings::PowerToyValues::from_json_string(json, L"ZoomIt");
 
+        bool formatChanged = false;
+
         PREG_SETTING curSetting = RegSettings;
         while (curSetting->ValueName)
         {
@@ -212,6 +228,42 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
                             *static_cast<PDWORD>(curSetting->Setting) = value;
                         }
                     }
+                    else if (special_semantics->second == SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_RECORDING_FORMAT)
+                    {
+                        // Convert string ("GIF" or "MP4") to DWORD enum value (0=GIF, 1=MP4)
+                        auto possibleValue = valuesFromSettings.get_string_value(L"RecordFormat");
+                        if (possibleValue.has_value())
+                        {
+                            RecordingFormat oldFormat = g_RecordingFormat;
+                            DWORD formatValue = (possibleValue.value() == L"GIF") ? 0 : 1;
+                            RecordingFormat newFormat = static_cast<RecordingFormat>(formatValue);
+
+                            *static_cast<PDWORD>(curSetting->Setting) = formatValue;
+
+                            if (oldFormat != newFormat)
+                            {
+                                formatChanged = true;
+
+                                if (oldFormat == static_cast<RecordingFormat>(0))
+                                {
+                                    g_RecordScalingGIF = g_RecordScaling;
+                                }
+                                else
+                                {
+                                    g_RecordScalingMP4 = g_RecordScaling;
+                                }
+
+                                if (newFormat == static_cast<RecordingFormat>(0))
+                                {
+                                    g_RecordScaling = g_RecordScalingGIF;
+                                }
+                                else
+                                {
+                                    g_RecordScaling = g_RecordScalingMP4;
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
                     else if (special_semantics->second == SPECIAL_SEMANTICS_COLOR)
                     {
                         /* PowerToys settings likes colors as #FFFFFF strings.
@@ -275,6 +327,22 @@ namespace winrt::PowerToys::ZoomItSettingsInterop::implementation
             }
             curSetting++;
         }
+
+        auto recordScalingValue = valuesFromSettings.get_uint_value(L"RecordScaling");
+        if (recordScalingValue.has_value() && !formatChanged)
+        {
+            g_RecordScaling = recordScalingValue.value();
+
+            if (g_RecordingFormat == static_cast<RecordingFormat>(0))
+            {
+                g_RecordScalingGIF = recordScalingValue.value();
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                g_RecordScalingMP4 = recordScalingValue.value();
+            }
+        }
+
         reg.WriteRegSettings(RegSettings);
     }
 }

src/modules/alwaysontop/AlwaysOnTop/AlwaysOnTop.vcxproj

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/awake/Awake/Core/Native/Bridge.cs

@@ -88,9 +88,6 @@ namespace Awake.Core.Native
         [return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
         internal static extern bool GetCursorPos(out Point lpPoint);
 
-        [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
-        internal static extern bool ScreenToClient(IntPtr hWnd, ref Point lpPoint);
-
         [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
         internal static extern bool GetMessage(out Msg lpMsg, IntPtr hWnd, uint wMsgFilterMin, uint wMsgFilterMax);
 

src/modules/awake/Awake/Core/TrayHelper.cs

@@ -61,9 +61,8 @@ namespace Awake.Core
 
             Bridge.SetForegroundWindow(hWnd);
 
-            // Get cursor position and convert it to client coordinates
+            // Get cursor position in screen coordinates
             Bridge.GetCursorPos(out Models.Point cursorPos);
-            Bridge.ScreenToClient(hWnd, ref cursorPos);
 
             // Set menu information
             MenuInfo menuInfo = new()

src/modules/cmdpal/CmdPalKeyboardService/CmdPalKeyboardService.vcxproj

@@ -141,4 +141,43 @@
     <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.props'))" />
     <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\..\..\packages\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.2.0.240111.5\build\native\Microsoft.Windows.CppWinRT.targets'))" />
   </Target>
+
+  <!-- BEGIN common.build.post.props -->
+  <!--
+    The Hybrid CRT model statically links the runtime and STL and dynamically
+    links the UCRT instead of the VC++ CRT. The UCRT ships with Windows.
+    WinAppSDK asserts that this is "supported according to the CRT maintainer."
+
+    This must come before Microsoft.Cpp.targets because it manipulates ClCompile.RuntimeLibrary.
+  -->
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true' and '$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreadedDebug, rather than MultiThreadedDebugDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140d.dll and MSVCP140d.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrtd.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrtd.lib</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(EnableHybridCRT)'=='true' and ('$(Configuration)'=='Release' or '$(Configuration)'=='AuditMode')">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreaded, rather than MultiThreadedDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrt.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrt.lib</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <!-- END common.build.post.props -->
+
 </Project>

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Helpers/GlobalErrorHandler.cs

@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ internal sealed partial class GlobalErrorHandler
         // without its exception being observed. It is NOT raised immediately
         // when the Task faults; timing depends on GC finalization.
         e.SetObserved();
-        HandleException(e.Exception, Context.UnobservedTaskException, isRecoverable: true);
+        HandleException(e.Exception, Context.UnobservedTaskException);
     }
 
-    private void HandleException(Exception ex, Context context, bool isRecoverable = false)
+    private static void HandleException(Exception ex, Context context)
     {
         Logger.LogError($"Unhandled exception detected ({context})", ex);
 
@@ -70,10 +70,25 @@ internal sealed partial class GlobalErrorHandler
 
             StoreReport(report, storeOnDesktop: false);
 
+            string message;
+            string caption;
+            try
+            {
+                message = ResourceLoaderInstance.GetString("GlobalErrorHandler_CrashMessageBox_Message");
+                caption = ResourceLoaderInstance.GetString("GlobalErrorHandler_CrashMessageBox_Caption");
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                // The resource loader may not be available if the exception occurred during startup.
+                // Fall back to hardcoded strings in that case.
+                message = "Command Palette has encountered a fatal error and must close.";
+                caption = "Command Palette - Fatal error";
+            }
+
             PInvoke.MessageBox(
                 HWND.Null,
-                "Command Palette has encountered a fatal error and must close.\n\nAn error report has been saved to your desktop.",
-                "Unhandled Error",
+                message,
+                caption,
                 MESSAGEBOX_STYLE.MB_ICONERROR);
         }
     }

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/MainWindow.xaml.cs

@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ public sealed partial class MainWindow : WindowEx,
     public MainWindow()
     {
         InitializeComponent();
-        HideWindow();
 
         _hwnd = new HWND(WinRT.Interop.WindowNative.GetWindowHandle(this).ToInt32());
 

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.CmdPal.UI/Strings/en-us/Resources.resw

@@ -431,8 +431,8 @@ Right-click to remove the key combination, thereby deactivating the shortcut.</v
   <data name="Run_Radio_Position_LastPosition.Content" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Last Position</value>
     <comment>Reopen the window where it was last closed</comment>
-  </data> 
-  <data name="TrayMenu_Settings" xml:space="preserve">  
+  </data>
+  <data name="TrayMenu_Settings" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Settings</value>
   </data>
   <data name="TrayMenu_Close" xml:space="preserve">
@@ -493,28 +493,34 @@ Right-click to remove the key combination, thereby deactivating the shortcut.</v
   <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Reloading_Text.Text" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Reloading extensions..</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Header.Text" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Header.Text" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Discover more extensions</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Description.Text" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Description.Text" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Find more extensions on the Microsoft Store or WinGet.</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Hyperlink.Content" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_Banner_Hyperlink.Content" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Learn how to create your own extensions</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_MicrosoftStore.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls]ToolTipService.ToolTip" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_MicrosoftStore.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls]ToolTipService.ToolTip" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Find extensions on the Microsoft Store</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_MicrosoftStore.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation]AutomationProperties.Name" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_MicrosoftStore.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation]AutomationProperties.Name" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Microsoft Store</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_WinGet.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls]ToolTipService.ToolTip" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_WinGet.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls]ToolTipService.ToolTip" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Find extensions on WinGet</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_WinGet.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation]AutomationProperties.Name" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_FindExtensions_WinGet.[using:Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation]AutomationProperties.Name" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Microsoft Store</value>
   </data>
-	<data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_SearchBox_Placeholder.PlaceholderText" xml:space="preserve">
+  <data name="Settings_ExtensionsPage_SearchBox_Placeholder.PlaceholderText" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Search extensions</value>
   </data>
+  <data name="GlobalErrorHandler_CrashMessageBox_Message" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Command Palette has encountered a fatal error and must close.</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="GlobalErrorHandler_CrashMessageBox_Caption" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Command Palette - Fatal error</value>
+  </data>
 </root>

src/modules/cmdpal/Microsoft.Terminal.UI/Microsoft.Terminal.UI.vcxproj

@@ -74,11 +74,35 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpp20</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreadedDebug, rather than MultiThreadedDebugDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140d.dll and MSVCP140d.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrtd.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrtd.lib /profile /opt:ref /opt:icf</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
     <ClCompile>
       <LanguageStandard>stdcpp20</LanguageStandard>
     </ClCompile>
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreaded, rather than MultiThreadedDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrt.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrt.lib /profile /opt:ref /opt:icf</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.props" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionSettings">

src/modules/cmdpal/custom.props

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <XesUseOneStoreVersioning>true</XesUseOneStoreVersioning>
     <XesBaseYearForStoreVersion>2025</XesBaseYearForStoreVersion>
     <VersionMajor>0</VersionMajor>
-    <VersionMinor>6</VersionMinor>
+    <VersionMinor>7</VersionMinor>
     <VersionInfoProductName>Microsoft Command Palette</VersionInfoProductName>
   </PropertyGroup>
 </Project>

src/modules/cmdpal/ext/Microsoft.CmdPal.Ext.Apps/AppListItem.cs

@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.CmdPal.Ext.Apps.Programs;
 
 public sealed partial class AppListItem : ListItem
 {
-    private static readonly Tag _appTag = new("App");
-
     private readonly AppCommand _appCommand;
     private readonly AppItem _app;
     private readonly Lazy<Details> _details;
@@ -48,7 +46,6 @@ public sealed partial class AppListItem : ListItem
         _app = app;
         Title = app.Name;
         Subtitle = app.Subtitle;
-        Tags = [_appTag];
         Icon = Icons.GenericAppIcon;
 
         MoreCommands = AddPinCommands(_app.Commands!, isPinned);

src/modules/cmdpal/ext/SamplePagesExtension/Pages/SampleListPageWithDetails.cs

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ internal sealed partial class SampleListPageWithDetails : ListPage
                 Details = new Details()
                 {
                     Title = "Hero Image Example",
-                    HeroImage = new IconInfo("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDBkMzVmNGQtYTM2OC00OWRjLTk5OWMtNzNkMDI4NjFjNTZmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg"),
+                    HeroImage = new IconInfo("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDBkMzVmNGQtYTM2OC00OWRjLTk5OWMtNzNkMDI4NjFjNTZmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXZ3ZXNsZXk@._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg"), /* #no-spell-check-line */
                     Body = "It is literally an image of a hero",
                 },
             },

src/modules/cmdpal/extensionsdk/Microsoft.CommandPalette.Extensions/Microsoft.CommandPalette.Extensions.vcxproj

@@ -68,6 +68,34 @@
     <WholeProgramOptimization>true</WholeProgramOptimization>
     <LinkIncremental>false</LinkIncremental>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreadedDebug, rather than MultiThreadedDebugDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140d.dll and MSVCP140d.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrtd.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrtd.lib /profile /opt:ref /opt:icf</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Release'">
+    <ClCompile>
+      <!-- We use MultiThreaded, rather than MultiThreadedDLL, to avoid DLL dependencies on VCRUNTIME140.dll and MSVCP140.dll. -->
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
+    </ClCompile>
+    <Link>
+      <!-- Link statically against the runtime and STL, but link dynamically against the CRT by ignoring the static CRT
+           lib and instead linking against the Universal CRT DLL import library. This "hybrid" linking mechanism is
+           supported according to the CRT maintainer. Dynamic linking against the CRT makes the binaries a bit smaller
+           than they would otherwise be if the CRT, runtime, and STL were all statically linked in. -->
+      <IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>%(IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries);libucrt.lib</IgnoreSpecificDefaultLibraries>
+      <AdditionalOptions>%(AdditionalOptions) /defaultlib:ucrt.lib /profile /opt:ref /opt:icf</AdditionalOptions>
+    </Link>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.props" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionSettings">
   </ImportGroup>

src/modules/fancyzones/FancyZones/FancyZones.vcxproj

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/imageresizer/tests/Models/ResizeBatchTests.cs

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading;
-
+using ImageResizer.Properties;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
 using Moq;
 using Moq.Protected;
@@ -101,7 +101,9 @@ namespace ImageResizer.Models
         private static ResizeBatch CreateBatch(Action<string> executeAction)
         {
             var mock = new Mock<ResizeBatch> { CallBase = true };
-            mock.Protected().Setup("Execute", ItExpr.IsAny<string>()).Callback(executeAction);
+            mock.Protected()
+                .Setup("Execute", ItExpr.IsAny<string>(), ItExpr.IsAny<Settings>())
+                .Callback((string file, Settings settings) => executeAction(file));
 
             return mock.Object;
         }

src/modules/imageresizer/ui/Models/ResizeBatch.cs

@@ -87,9 +87,14 @@ namespace ImageResizer.Models
         public IEnumerable<ResizeError> Process(Action<int, double> reportProgress, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
             double total = Files.Count;
-            var completed = 0;
+            int completed = 0;
             var errors = new ConcurrentBag<ResizeError>();
 
+            // NOTE: Settings.Default is captured once before parallel processing.
+            // Any changes to settings on disk during this batch will NOT be reflected until the next batch.
+            // This improves performance and predictability by avoiding repeated mutex acquisition and behaviour change results in a batch.
+            var settings = Settings.Default;
+
             // TODO: If we ever switch to Windows.Graphics.Imaging, we can get a lot more throughput by using the async
             //       APIs and a custom SynchronizationContext
             Parallel.ForEach(
@@ -97,13 +102,12 @@ namespace ImageResizer.Models
                 new ParallelOptions
                 {
                     CancellationToken = cancellationToken,
-                    MaxDegreeOfParallelism = Environment.ProcessorCount,
                 },
                 (file, state, i) =>
                 {
                     try
                     {
-                        Execute(file);
+                        Execute(file, settings);
                     }
                     catch (Exception ex)
                     {
@@ -111,14 +115,13 @@ namespace ImageResizer.Models
                     }
 
                     Interlocked.Increment(ref completed);
-
                     reportProgress(completed, total);
                 });
 
             return errors;
         }
 
-        protected virtual void Execute(string file)
-            => new ResizeOperation(file, DestinationDirectory, Settings.Default).Execute();
+        protected virtual void Execute(string file, Settings settings)
+            => new ResizeOperation(file, DestinationDirectory, settings).Execute();
     }
 }

src/modules/imageresizer/ui/Properties/Settings.cs

@@ -461,33 +461,42 @@ namespace ImageResizer.Properties
             {
             }
 
-            // Needs to be called on the App UI thread as the properties are bound to the UI.
-            App.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
+            if (App.Current?.Dispatcher != null)
             {
-                ShrinkOnly = jsonSettings.ShrinkOnly;
-                Replace = jsonSettings.Replace;
-                IgnoreOrientation = jsonSettings.IgnoreOrientation;
-                RemoveMetadata = jsonSettings.RemoveMetadata;
-                JpegQualityLevel = jsonSettings.JpegQualityLevel;
-                PngInterlaceOption = jsonSettings.PngInterlaceOption;
-                TiffCompressOption = jsonSettings.TiffCompressOption;
-                FileName = jsonSettings.FileName;
-                KeepDateModified = jsonSettings.KeepDateModified;
-                FallbackEncoder = jsonSettings.FallbackEncoder;
-                CustomSize = jsonSettings.CustomSize;
-                SelectedSizeIndex = jsonSettings.SelectedSizeIndex;
-
-                if (jsonSettings.Sizes.Count > 0)
-                {
-                    Sizes.Clear();
-                    Sizes.AddRange(jsonSettings.Sizes);
-
-                    // Ensure Ids are unique and handle missing Ids
-                    IdRecoveryHelper.RecoverInvalidIds(Sizes);
-                }
-            });
+                // Needs to be called on the App UI thread as the properties are bound to the UI.
+                App.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() => ReloadCore(jsonSettings));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                ReloadCore(jsonSettings);
+            }
 
             _jsonMutex.ReleaseMutex();
         }
+
+        private void ReloadCore(Settings jsonSettings)
+        {
+            ShrinkOnly = jsonSettings.ShrinkOnly;
+            Replace = jsonSettings.Replace;
+            IgnoreOrientation = jsonSettings.IgnoreOrientation;
+            RemoveMetadata = jsonSettings.RemoveMetadata;
+            JpegQualityLevel = jsonSettings.JpegQualityLevel;
+            PngInterlaceOption = jsonSettings.PngInterlaceOption;
+            TiffCompressOption = jsonSettings.TiffCompressOption;
+            FileName = jsonSettings.FileName;
+            KeepDateModified = jsonSettings.KeepDateModified;
+            FallbackEncoder = jsonSettings.FallbackEncoder;
+            CustomSize = jsonSettings.CustomSize;
+            SelectedSizeIndex = jsonSettings.SelectedSizeIndex;
+
+            if (jsonSettings.Sizes.Count > 0)
+            {
+                Sizes.Clear();
+                Sizes.AddRange(jsonSettings.Sizes);
+
+                // Ensure Ids are unique and handle missing Ids
+                IdRecoveryHelper.RecoverInvalidIds(Sizes);
+            }
+        }
     }
 }

src/modules/keyboardmanager/KeyboardManagerEditor/KeyboardManagerEditor.vcxproj

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>true</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <SDLCheck>false</SDLCheck>
+      <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
     </ClCompile>

src/modules/peek/Peek.FilePreviewer/Previewers/MediaPreviewer/AudioPreviewer.cs

@@ -24,13 +24,15 @@ using Windows.Storage;
 
 namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
 {
-    public partial class AudioPreviewer : ObservableObject, IAudioPreviewer
+    public partial class AudioPreviewer : ObservableObject, IDisposable, IAudioPreviewer
     {
+        private MediaSource? _mediaSource;
+
         [ObservableProperty]
         private PreviewState _state;
 
         [ObservableProperty]
-        private AudioPreviewData _preview;
+        private AudioPreviewData? _preview;
 
         private IFileSystemItem Item { get; }
 
@@ -40,7 +42,6 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
         {
             Item = file;
             Dispatcher = DispatcherQueue.GetForCurrentThread();
-            Preview = new AudioPreviewData();
         }
 
         public async Task CopyAsync()
@@ -63,19 +64,23 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
         {
             State = PreviewState.Loading;
 
+            Preview = new AudioPreviewData();
+
             var thumbnailTask = LoadThumbnailAsync(cancellationToken);
             var sourceTask = LoadSourceAsync(cancellationToken);
             var metadataTask = LoadMetadataAsync(cancellationToken);
 
             await Task.WhenAll(thumbnailTask, sourceTask, metadataTask);
 
-            if (!thumbnailTask.Result || !sourceTask.Result || !metadataTask.Result)
+            if (sourceTask.Result && metadataTask.Result)
             {
-                State = PreviewState.Error;
+                State = PreviewState.Loaded;
             }
             else
             {
-                State = PreviewState.Loaded;
+                // Release all resources on error.
+                Unload();
+                State = PreviewState.Error;
             }
         }
 
@@ -88,12 +93,15 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
                 {
                     cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
 
-                    var thumbnail = await ThumbnailHelper.GetThumbnailAsync(Item.Path, cancellationToken)
-                        ?? await ThumbnailHelper.GetIconAsync(Item.Path, cancellationToken);
+                    if (Preview != null)
+                    {
+                        var thumbnail = await ThumbnailHelper.GetThumbnailAsync(Item.Path, cancellationToken)
+                            ?? await ThumbnailHelper.GetIconAsync(Item.Path, cancellationToken);
 
-                    cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
+                        cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
 
-                    Preview.Thumbnail = thumbnail ?? new SvgImageSource(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/Peek/DefaultFileIcon.svg"));
+                        Preview.Thumbnail = thumbnail ?? new SvgImageSource(new Uri("ms-appx:///Assets/Peek/DefaultFileIcon.svg"));
+                    }
                 });
             });
         }
@@ -110,7 +118,11 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
                 {
                     cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
 
-                    Preview.MediaSource = MediaSource.CreateFromStorageFile(storageFile);
+                    if (Preview != null)
+                    {
+                        _mediaSource = MediaSource.CreateFromStorageFile(storageFile);
+                        Preview.MediaSource = _mediaSource;
+                    }
                 });
             });
         }
@@ -123,6 +135,11 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
 
                 await Dispatcher.RunOnUiThread(() =>
                 {
+                    if (Preview == null)
+                    {
+                        return;
+                    }
+
                     cancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
                     Preview.Title = PropertyStoreHelper.TryGetStringProperty(Item.Path, PropertyKey.MusicTitle)
                         ?? Item.Name[..^Item.Extension.Length];
@@ -160,6 +177,22 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers.MediaPreviewer
             return _supportedFileTypes.Contains(item.Extension);
         }
 
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            Unload();
+            GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Explicitly unloads the preview and releases file resources.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void Unload()
+        {
+            _mediaSource?.Dispose();
+            _mediaSource = null;
+            Preview = null;
+        }
+
         private static readonly HashSet<string> _supportedFileTypes = new()
         {
             ".aac",

src/modules/peek/Peek.FilePreviewer/Previewers/MediaPreviewer/VideoPreviewer.cs

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers
 {
     public partial class VideoPreviewer : ObservableObject, IVideoPreviewer, IDisposable
     {
+        private MediaSource? _mediaSource;
+
         [ObservableProperty]
         private MediaSource? preview;
 
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers
 
         public void Dispose()
         {
+            Unload();
             GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
         }
 
@@ -145,7 +148,8 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers
                         MissingCodecName = missingCodecName;
                     }
 
-                    Preview = MediaSource.CreateFromStorageFile(storageFile);
+                    _mediaSource = MediaSource.CreateFromStorageFile(storageFile);
+                    Preview = _mediaSource;
                 });
             });
         }
@@ -155,6 +159,16 @@ namespace Peek.FilePreviewer.Previewers
             return !(VideoTask?.Result ?? true);
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Explicitly unloads the preview and releases file resources.
+        /// </summary>
+        public void Unload()
+        {
+            _mediaSource?.Dispose();
+            _mediaSource = null;
+            Preview = null;
+        }
+
         private static readonly HashSet<string> _supportedFileTypes = new()
         {
             ".mp4", ".3g2", ".3gp", ".3gp2", ".3gpp", ".asf", ".avi", ".m2t", ".m2ts",

src/modules/peek/Peek.UITests/PeekFilePreviewTests.cs

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ using System.Drawing;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.PowerToys.UITest;
@@ -35,6 +36,105 @@ public class PeekFilePreviewTests : UITestBase
     {
     }
 
+    static PeekFilePreviewTests()
+    {
+        FixSettingsFileBeforeTests();
+    }
+
+    private static readonly JsonSerializerOptions IndentedJsonOptions = new() { WriteIndented = true };
+
+    private static void FixSettingsFileBeforeTests()
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            // Default Peek settings
+            string peekSettingsContent = @"{
+                  ""name"": ""Peek"",
+                  ""version"": ""1.0"",
+                  ""properties"": {
+                    ""ActivationShortcut"": {
+                      ""win"": false,
+                      ""ctrl"": true,
+                      ""alt"": false,
+                      ""shift"": false,
+                      ""code"": 32,
+                      ""key"": ""Space""
+                    },
+                    ""AlwaysRunNotElevated"": {
+                      ""value"": true
+                    },
+                    ""CloseAfterLosingFocus"": {
+                      ""value"": false
+                    },
+                    ""ConfirmFileDelete"": {
+                      ""value"": true
+                    },
+                    ""EnableSpaceToActivate"": {
+                      ""value"": false
+                    }
+                  }
+                }";
+
+            // Update Peek module settings
+            SettingsConfigHelper.UpdateModuleSettings(
+                "Peek",
+                peekSettingsContent,
+                (settings) =>
+                {
+                    // Get or ensure properties section exists
+                    Dictionary<string, object> properties;
+
+                    if (settings.TryGetValue("properties", out var propertiesObj))
+                    {
+                        if (propertiesObj is Dictionary<string, object> dict)
+                        {
+                            properties = dict;
+                        }
+                        else if (propertiesObj is JsonElement jsonElem)
+                        {
+                            properties = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(jsonElem.GetRawText())
+                                        ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to deserialize properties");
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            properties = new Dictionary<string, object>();
+                        }
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        properties = new Dictionary<string, object>();
+                    }
+
+                    // Update the required properties
+                    properties["ActivationShortcut"] = new Dictionary<string, object>
+                    {
+                        { "win", false },
+                        { "ctrl", true },
+                        { "alt", false },
+                        { "shift", false },
+                        { "code", 32 },
+                        { "key", "Space" },
+                    };
+
+                    properties["EnableSpaceToActivate"] = new Dictionary<string, object>
+                    {
+                        { "value", false },
+                    };
+
+                    settings["properties"] = properties;
+                });
+
+            // Disable all modules except Peek in global settings
+            SettingsConfigHelper.ConfigureGlobalModuleSettings("Peek");
+
+            Debug.WriteLine("Successfully updated all settings - Peek shortcut configured and all modules except Peek disabled");
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Assert.Fail($"ERROR in FixSettingsFileBeforeTests: {ex.Message}");
+        }
+    }
+
     [TestInitialize]
     public void TestInitialize()
     {

src/modules/poweraccent/PowerAccent.Core/Languages.cs

@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ namespace PowerAccent.Core
                 LetterKey.VK_L => new[] { "ļ", "₺" }, // ₺ is in VK_T for other languages, but not VK_L, so we add it here.
                 LetterKey.VK_M => new[] { "ṁ" },
                 LetterKey.VK_N => new[] { "ņ", "ṅ", "ⁿ", "ℕ", "№" },
-                LetterKey.VK_O => new[] { "ȯ", "∅" },
+                LetterKey.VK_O => new[] { "ȯ", "∅", "⌀" },
                 LetterKey.VK_P => new[] { "ṗ", "℗", "∏", "¶" },
                 LetterKey.VK_Q => new[] { "ℚ" },
                 LetterKey.VK_R => new[] { "ṙ", "®", "ℝ" },