This post contains spoilers for Snow White.At the start of Snow Whites second act, the titular princess finds herself in an enchanted wood. The dark, frightening trees around her recede, replaced by animals who approach Snow White, recognizing her as pure of heart. A bluebird floats up to the princess and lands gently upon her extended finger.This moment, of course, comes from the movies primary source, the 1937 Disney animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But theres one key difference between the 1937 depiction and the one from 2025. In 1937, Snow White (voiced by Adriana Caselotti) sings to the bird and, magically, wonderfully, the bird whistles back. In 2025, neither person nor bird sings to one another.The lack of singing is hardly the only change between the two versions, as the 2025 movie adds a few new songs, reimagines the bland prince into a bland rogue, and continues past the true loves kiss moment to follow Snow White (Rachel Zegler) as she retakes her kingdom from the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot).However, the bluebird omission is notable not because of its connection to the original Snow White, but to Shrek, the 2001 CGI animated hit. In that movie, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) has an encounter with a bird similar to that of the 1937 movie. But when the bird tries to keep up with the octave increases as Fiona sings, it explodes. A surprised Fiona looks over to the nest to see two eggs, leading to a match cut of those same eggs, now cracked open and sizzling on a frying pan.Its been almost a quarter of a century since Shrek made that joke about Snow White. But it hit the House of Mouse so hard that Disney still cant just do a straightforward princess movie.Attack of the OgreShrek is a terrible movie, declared respected film critic Scott Tobias in his 20-year remembrance for the Guardian in 2021. Its not funny. It looks awful. It would influence many unfunny, awful-looking computer-animated comedies that copied its formula of glib self-reference and sickly sweet sentimentality.Tobias argument irritated some readers, probably the same people angry about the minuscule redesign DreamWorks has given the ogre for the fifth movie, coming in 2026. But its hard to argue that hes wrong. Not only is Shrek visually unappealing, with its rudimentary CGI animation and bland color palette, but it led to a glut of cheap, even uglier, even more cynical childrens movies shoved into theaters or, more often, into Walmart bargain bins and, eventually, into Redbox and streaming services.But its also hard to argue that these are bugs instead of features. Ugliness is Shreks raison dtre, particularly in response to Disney. Much has been written about DreamWorks SKG co-founder Jeffrey Katzenbergs grudge against Disney, the studio he once ran.However, the movie resonated with people who werent bitter about getting passed over for a leadership position at Disney. Nay, it worked because people by 2001 were just tired of the Disney house style of the previous decade (if not longer). Sure, Walt Disney Animation Studios put out some now beloved entries at the turn of the century, movies like The Emperors New Groove. But Dinosaur, Fantasia 2000, and Tarzan all proved that the Disney renaissance had definitively ended. Yet the dip in quality didnt coincide with a dip in Disneys output, and the studio kept pumping out direct-to-video sequels, Disney Channel TV shows, theme park attractions and merchandise.So when Shrek opened with the titular ogre tearing a page out of a Disney-style storybook to wipe his butt, giggling children and their parents alike were ready to see the giant taken down a peg. In fact, almost all of Shreks shots landed perfectly, especially its mockery of the well-established Disney princess formula.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Postmodern PrincessesIt can be argued that Disney rolled admirably with Shreks punch, producing the wonderful Enchanted in 2007. On the surface, Enchanted seemed to operate with the same cynicism as Shrek, casting Amy Adams as innocent/naive Princess Giselle, James Marsden as a bumbling Prince, and thrusting them into real New York.To be sure, movie lands plenty of self-aware shots at Disneys catalog but it still retains and remixes those tropes. Giselle is taken aback when roaches and pigeons answer her call instead of bluebirds and deer, but she takes it in stride and sings Happy Cleaning Song. She may be horrified that divorce court exists, but by the end of the movie, shes convinced the couple represented by her actual true love Robert (Patrick Dempsey) to forgo their separation. She even earns the respect of Roberts forward-thinking daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey), who eventually places Giselle alongside Ruth Bader Ginsberg and other feminist icons.Successful as Enchanted is, though, it could not completely shake off Shreks charges. In fact, the princesses who followed Enchanted have more in common with Fiona than Giselle. Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel from Tangled rescue their respective male leads more than the guys rescue them. The most important relationship in Frozen is between co-princesses Elsa and Anna, not with the surprise villain in Prince Hans or the likable oaf Kristoff. Neither Moana nor Mirabel from Encanto are hampered are hampered by the lack of a romantic lead, nor honestly are their movies.All of these women are outsiders, for whom love takes a distant second place behind self-actualization. Nothing demonstrates this change more than Ralph Breaks the Internet, in which classic princesses such as Cinderella and Jasmine express shock that Vanellope doesnt get rescued by a prince. And lo and behold, these princesses all participate in the movies big climax, helping to rescue Vanellope from the raging, possessive Ralph.Shrek Forever AfterThese movies have their postmodern merits, but Snow White doesnt feel like it needs them, not even in its 2025 version. The best parts of the recent movie all involve Zegler playing the material straight. When she sings and dances, even with this nightmare inducing take on the Dwarfs, Snow White charms.But when the entire movie stops so that half-hearted romantic interest Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) can sing a snarky number called Princess Problems, the thing grinds to a stop. Whenever Show White needs to prove that its in on the joke, that it understands that princess movies arent realistic, it becomes an empty nothing, a movie far, far worse than Shrek.Snow White is now playing in theaters.

At Country Living, we have a serious soft spot for a good makeover. Whether its a top-to-bottom renovation of a $15,000 fixer-upper purchased on Facebook Marketplace or the revival of a foreclosed hunting lodge that once had birds fluttering about in the foyer, its hard to resist a good comeback story. However, as much as we love a straightforward house before and after, were especially excited when that makeover involves an unconventional conversionmaybe its a tugboat transformed into a floating cottage, a grain silo turned into a guesthouse, or a 160-year-old grain mill transformed into an airy farmhouse.Thats why our ears perked up when Alabama designer Ellen Godfrey mentioned she had recently turned a century-old country honky-tonkthats right, a honky-tonkinto a multi-generational family home. The property, part of an area known as Queenstown Lake, was once a popular destination for Birmingham city folk seeking a day trip or weekend away. It included cabins, a boarding house, swimming hole, and, yes, a honky-tonk. However, by the mid-century, it kinda fell into disrepair, says Ellen.Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyNewspaper clippings from the propertys heyday appear throughout the home. During its earliest years, the venue attracted big-for-the-time names like Benny Goodman, a.k.a. The King of Swing, and brothers Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. A few years ago, the current ownerswho Ellen has known since childhooddecided to renovate, with the goal of turning the honky-tonk into a weekend retreat for friends and family. While Ellen wasnt part of the initial project planning, her talents were later enlisted in the name of making sure the character of the property remained intact. You could say the train had already left the station by the time I came on board, says Ellen, noting that decisions had to be made quickly as some things had already been set into motion. The train metaphor is fitting, as trains frequently come through the property on just the other side of the lake. Thats also why youll see vintage trains hovering just above the homes original booth seating right off the kitchen, and railroad crossing signage at the top of the stairwell. These sorts of storied elements and architectural quirks are what Ellen set out to preserve while simultaneously making tweaks to better accommodate needs of weekend guests. Since the transformationwhich now accommodates 16 houseguests at any given timethe homeowners have used it for weekends, assorted holidays, and, most recently, a daughters college reunion for a group of friends. In true honky-tonk spirit, thats music to Ellens ears. Whenever I see it in action, I think Oh, goodthats exactly what we were hoping for.Tour This Honky-tonk Turned Family Home:Working JukeboxMary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyOriginal to the property, the jukebox has been fully restored to working order. The leather chairs are vintage from Nicky Kehoe.Storied Stairwell Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyThe Queenstown Lake sign is a copy of the original sign that advertised the lake and boarding house. The stairwell banister was reclaimed from an old church balcony.Feed-a-Crowd Kitchen Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyGiven the homes history, the main floor was mostly open and the kitchen felt kind of floating out in the middle, says Ellen. To create zones more in keeping with a residencebut still capable of hosting large groupsEllen moved the kitchen back a bit to create more living and dining options in the main area. Six rush-seated barstools (Dorchester by Ballard Designs), a soapstone countertop, and three ovens and a warming drawer make for a highly functional gathering spot. The vintage pendant lights (for similar, Rejuvenation) are large enough to hold court in such a large open space.RELATED: 60 More Kitchen Filled With Timeless Ideas for Your Own KitchenBooth Seating Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyThe charming old-school boothsfour in totalare also original to the property. To up the comfort factor, Ellen added seat cushions made from a durable ticking stripe fabric (Tatton Stripe in Pumice by Perennials).Warm Welcome Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyOn the back side of the kitchen, youll find a new entry-meets-mudroom. Now when you come into the house, that space feels more like a proper foyer, says Ellen. In addition to serving up a proper entry moment, the new spacepainted Sandy Hook Gray by Benjamin Moore (now discontinued)offers ample storage for both coats, bags, and boots as well as serving ware and pantry items. Upstairs, a vintage railroad crossing sign is another nod to the nearby train track.Pastoral Patterns Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyA floral wallcovering (Apothecarys Garden by Trustworth Studios) brings whimsy to the bathroom. I like that the paper has a vintage feel. It made me think of being in the country in the middle of summer, says Ellen. The framed swim meet ribbons date back to the owners childhood. It wasnt until after we hung the wallpaper that I realized the exact same colors from the ribbons repeated in the paper, says Ellen. It was fate.RELATED: 40 More Inspiring Ways to Use Wallpaper in Your BathroomPool PartyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyThe basement became the game room as a matter of necessity. We had an old pool table, and it wasnt going to fit upstairs, so that dictated how the basement would be used, says Ellen.Upcycled Bar Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyThe wall-mounted bar is an old coat rack topped with a slab of wood. When paired with bar stools (from Urban Outfitters), it makes for an efficient use of space. The mounted fish, both real and wooden, are a nod to the familys time spent on the lake.Den-Like Downstairs Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyIs there a world where a tufted leather sofa doesnt make sense in a rec room? Here, a perfectly worn-in leather Chesterfield (by RH) sits pretty with patterned pillows. Just a stones throw away, a game table is always at the ready alongside a large antique RC Cola sign. Under-21 ClubMary Rosenbaum PhotographyIn the kids bedroom, spindle beds (Jenny Lind by Crate&kids) add classically country charm while whimsical horse wallcovering (Watercolor Horses by McGee and Co.) hints at the family-owned stables that sit adjacent to the property. RELATED: 70 More Stylish Kids Room Ideas That Even Grownups Will LoveClosing Time Quarters Mary Rosenbaum PhotographyMary Rosenbaum PhotographyWhen its time for the grownups to turn in, a pair of woven beds (Harbour Cane by Serena and Lily) outfitted with plaid sheets (by Piglet in Bed) will be happy to accommodate. Textured sconces (Wimberley by Visual Comfort & Co.) help brighten up the space, as does the lightened-up brick (painted Aloof Gray by Sherwin-Williams). In the adjacent bathroom, the neutral scheme continues with a small-scale wallpaper (Berain by Pintura Studio) and industrial sconces (Boston Head Light Sconce by Visual Comfort & Co.).Tour More Amazing Home Transformations:Rachel Hardage BarrettRachel Hardage Barrett has written for and edited lifestyle publications for more than 20 years. As the editor-in-chief of Country Living, she has covered all things related to country lifeincluding design, gardening, food, travel, antiques, crafts, and country pop culturefor more than a decade. Before Country Living, Rachel spent several years at Southern Living, where she served as Executive Editor covering travel, food, style, and features. Before Southern Living, Rachel was the Special Projects Director of Real Simple, where she wrote and oversaw books and special issues about food, travel, weddings, organizing, and parenting in addition to working on international editions and licensed products. Before working at lifestyle brands, Rachel started her magazine career at Glamour, where she wrote and edited relationship articles, celebrity interviews, as well as fashion and features content. When shes not working on the magazine, she can likely be found poking around an antiques shop, perusing country real estate listings, or dreaming of opening a general store.

Today, Bloombergs Mark Gurman corroborated that Apple will launch a foldable iPhone in 2026. Many outlets had previously reported that Apple was working on such a launch. According to Gurman, the product will be similar in design to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, rather than a clamshell folding device.Gurman reports that this new Apple foldable will utilize many of the same technologies as the upcoming ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. Thats going to be one of the thinnest Apple products ever, and certainly the thinnest iPhone ever coming in at just 5.5mm. The iPhone 17 Air have a number of compromises, including the speakers and cameras, but other than that, youll be getting the full iPhone experience. Itll even have a good amount of battery life. This phone, in a way, serves as a thought exercise for fitting as many components as possible in such a thin device something thatll be critical for developing a folding phone.We dont have a ton of specifics on the upcoming Apple fold, though Gurman believes itll be priced around $2000. He also adds that itll take a while for production volumes to ramp up, so availability may be sparse at first.If everything goes according to plan, this foldable iPhone should be part of the iPhone 18 lineup. Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously reported that the foldable iPhone will have a 5.5-inch outer display, alongside a 7.8-inch inner display similar to an iPad mini.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, the rumored plastic design for the next-generation Apple Watch SE is now in serious jeopardy. There are some internal conflicts regarding the plastic housing, and it isnt necessarily cheaper to produce.Last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple was considering switching to a rigid plastic for the next-generation Apple Watch SE. This wouldve potentially allowed for an even lower starting price.Now, Bloombergs Mark Gurman reports that the switch to plastic is in serious jeopardy. Design teams dont like how it looks, and it isnt currently cheaper to produce than the already-existing aluminum casings:And theredesigned,plastic Apple Watch SE Ive written aboutis also in serious jeopardy.The design team doesnt like the look, and the operations team is finding it difficult to makethe casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis.Whether or not Apple overcomes these hurdles remains to be seen. That said, Apple Watch SE will be coming up on 3 years old this fall, so well likely see a refresh in about 6 months, plastic or not.Gurman also reiterates that the next-generation Apple Watch Ultra will gain support for satellite texting, as well as 5G connectivity.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Astronomers using the mighty James Webb Space Telescope have captured direct images of four planets in a star system 130 light years from Earth an astonishingly eagle-eyed feat of cosmic photography.The planets, all young gas giants, were spotted in HR 8799, a system that's only around 30 million years old. Though already extensively probed, these latest observations, as detailed in a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, provide compelling evidence that the nascent worlds are rich in carbon dioxide a promising sign that they formed in a similar way to the gas giants of our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn."By spotting these strong carbon dioxide features, we have shown there is a sizable fraction of heavier elements, like carbon, oxygen, and iron, in these planets' atmospheres," lead author William Balmer, an astrophysicist at John Hopkins University, said in a NASA statement.It's rare that astronomers capture a direct glimpse of exoplanets. Generally, they produce little to no light of their own, and are vastly outshone by the light of their host star, plus the untold number of luminous objects in the night sky. As such, even detecting an exoplanet is rare; so far, only 6,000 worlds outside our solar system have been discovered, and they're usually spotted by searching for dips in the light of a star they cause when they pass in front of one from our perspective.In their work, Balmer and his team used a special instrument, known as a coronagraph, built into the James Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) specifically designed to blot out the light of stars while searching for exoplanets."It's like putting your thumb up in front of the sun when you're looking up at the sky," Balmer .That allowed the astronomers to see the "light that is emitted from the planet itself, as opposed to the fingerprint of that light from the host star," Balmer added.The incredible snapshots provided astronomers with a clear look at the presence of CO2 in the distant exoplanets, which could lead to key insights on gas giant formation throughout the cosmos.It's widely believed that Jupiter and Saturn were born by first forming heavy, solid cores that pulled in lighter elements nearby like carbon dioxide slowly accreting mass over time.But another theory known as disk instability which is pretty controversial holds that gas giants can also spawn in the massive protoplanetary disk that surrounds a star shortly after it's born. Clumps of matter in this circumstellar cloud, the theory holds, could rapidly collapse into protoplanets. Balmer and his team's findings suggest that the traditional "core accretion" is the one in evidence in the young star system. It's too early to declare that this is the prevailing way that gas giants form throughout the universe, but it's a valuable clue."We have other lines of evidence that hint at these four HR 8799 planets forming using this bottom-up approach," said coauthor Laurent Pueyo, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in the NASA statement. "How common is this for planets we can directly image? We don't know yet, but we're proposing more Webb observations to answer that question.""We want to take pictures of other solar systems and see how they're similar or different when compared to ours," Balmer added. "From there, we can try to get a sense of how weird our solar system really is or how normal."More on astronomical quartets: Scientists Discover Four Intriguing Planets Around Closest Single-Star Solar System to EarthShare This Article

Dark energy, the mysterious force that makes up 70 percent of everything in existence, was hypothesized to explain why the expansion of the universewas accelerating. Ever since, it's been thought of as a constant, immutable presence.Now, the latest observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) indicate that dark energy has actually changed over time a development that could potentially upend the prevailing cosmological model, and perhaps hint at a new understanding of physics. The findings, detailed in a series of papers currently awaiting peer review, have implications not only for how the universe has evolved, but what its eventual fate might be as well."It sounds like it will be a paradigm shift, something that will change our understanding and the way we are putting all the pieces together," Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki, a cosmologist at the University of Texas and DESI team member, .The DESI telescope, located in Kitt Peak, Arizona, searches and measures galaxies to tease out the effects of dark energy. It's now surveyed a staggering 15 million of these realms as far as 11 billion light years away, providing the most comprehensive portrait to date of the galaxies as they shifted and clustered together over the eons movements thought to betray the presence of dark energy.Following up on preliminary findings shared a year ago, the latest DESI results strongly suggest that the acceleration of the universe's expansion started sooner than once thought, peaked early on, and is currently weakening.This is a big deal. Dark energy, as it's currently theorized, stems from the idea of a cosmological constant. Proposed by Albert Einstein, it assumes that there's some unseen background force powerful enough to explain why the universe, with all its mass, doesn't collapse under its own gravity.Einstein later called the cosmological constant his "biggest blunder," but it found a second life decades later with the idea of dark energy, along with dark matter, in the late 1990s. Dark energy, envisioned as this constant, is now a cornerstone of the lambda-CDM model, the standard model of cosmology.In this model, dark energy pushes against the literal weight of existence to make sure it all doesn't come crashing down, accelerating the universe's expansion at a fixed rate. Meanwhile, invisible dark matter, thought to make up roughly 25 percent of the universe compared to a measly five percent of the regular matter we're made out of, is thought to govern the formation of galaxies from the shadows with the pull of its gravity.Though it may be the standard theory, lambda-CDM has always been contentious, not least of all because it doesn't explain what dark energy actually is (Einstein thought it was a force intrinsic to the vacuum of space itself.)It's too early to say that the dominant model has been trumped, but it's on the ropes. The DESI results, combined with extensive observations of the cosmic microwave background the leftover light from the Big Bang and of thousands of supernovas, indicate a discrepancy of 4.2 sigma, a measurement of uncertainty indicating, in this case, that there's only a one in 30,000 chance that the lambda-CDM model is correct, per Quanta Mag. Five sigma, however, is the standard needed to be considered a bona fide discovery. Though it hasn't quite made the cut yet, the latest work yields a higher sigma level than reported a year ago and there's still two more years of DESI data to parse through. Comfortingly, one possible implication of a waning dark energy is that the universe won't relentlessly expand until it rips itself apart, as one theory holds. On the other hand, if dark energy's powers are diminishing, it's possible its effects could not halt at zero but go on to reverse course, dooming the cosmos to implode on itself. Then again, the mere fact that dark energy can change at all could mean that everything's up in the air."As far as theoretical models, Pandora's box just opened," Ishak-Boushaki told New Scientist. "We were stuck with a cosmological constant. We are not stuck anymore."More on cosmology: Physicists Find That the Universe Could "Collapse Like a House of Cards"Share This Article

But the chances of someone being affected by this bug are relatively low.

The phone software uses artificial intelligence to help you edit videos, write messages and get recommendations on where to go for dinner.

ESA launches Accessible Games Initiative and unveils 24 "tags" for gaming storefronts and product pagesESA developed the idea with EA, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Ubisoft.Image credit: Accessible Games Initiative / Eurogamer News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on March 23, 2025 The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) - the same organisation that used to run E3 before it was cancelled - has announced the Accessible Games Initiative, a cross-industry campaign to provide consumers with clear information about the accessibility features available in video games.The five founding companies - EA, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo of America, and Ubisoft - have partnered with the ESA to "help provide clear information about whether a specific video game has accessibility features and, if so, what those features are". Amazon Games, Riot Games, Square Enix, and Warner Bros. Games have also since pledged support.Spectrum Shift Trailer | Design For Every Gamer | RNIB.Watch on YouTubeThe initiative is launching with a set of 24 tags - such as clear text, large and clear subtitles, narrated menus, stick inversion and save anytime - with "clear criteria about what each tag means", and "over time", the initiative expects participating companies to place the Accessible Games Initiative tags on digital storefronts, product pages or digital catalogues. The tags have reportedly been developed with guidance and feedback from disabled gamers, advocacy groups, and developers, "all of whom provided valuable insights about the real-world applications of the tags"."The timeline for implementation of the tags will be determined on a company-by-company basis and is always voluntary," the ESA added, and as feedback is gathered from the community and new technologies and features are developed, it "expect[s] the existing tags to evolve and to introduce additional tags in the future"."Tens of millions of Americans have a disability and often face barriers to experiencing the joy and connection that comes with playing video games," said Stanley Pierre-Louis, ESA president and CEO."We are immensely proud to announce the Accessible Games Initiative in partnership with industry leaders. This initiative demonstrates how impactful we can be when we work together in our industry-wide pursuit of helping more people experience the power of play."To view the tags and learn more about the Accessible Games Initiative, visit accessiblegames.com.In December, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) established a player testing panel for the video games industry, research institutions, and academia called the Design for Every Gamer Player Panel.Alongside its new Devkit: Best Practice in Accessible Gaming 2024, the organisation said that by engaging with this diverse group, "developers and researchers can gather essential feedback on accessibility, helping to ensure that their games and studies are inclusive and accessible to gamers with sight loss".

Blender 4.4 Released: Check Out These Standout Features By Bart on March 23, 2025 Blender Development Blender 4.4 introduces significant improvements focused on stability and quality, alongside innovative features that enhance animation workflows and video editing capabilities.Key Features: Action Slots: Revolutionizes animation by allowing multiple data-blocks to share a single Action, simplifying complex animations. Video Sequencer Enhancements: Improved text editing, support for H.265 codec, and faster performance for various effects and playback. Modeling Updates: New options for selecting by pole count and improved topology influence for cleaner mesh structures. Sculpting: Introduction of the Plane brush type with customizable settings for precise control over sculpting tasks. User Interface: Enhanced window decorations, improved editor snapping, and better feedback for various tools. Compositor: Significant performance improvements and a revamped Glare node for better control and usability. Relevant Links:Blender 4.4 features in less than five minutesBlender 4.4. Showreel