What's New

The Update page now has a new section that allows you to install any MSIX/MSIXBundle package on your system. If the package you're trying to install is signed then it will be directly installed. If it is not signed, its designated certificate common name and hashing algorithm will be detected from its manifest, a unique matching certificate will be generated on your system in order to sign the package and then install it. This significantly simplifies any app package installation by abstracting and automating the entire process.
The app now asks for confirmation before closing when there are ongoing operations such as applying/verifying/removing security measures, retrieving MDM information and so on, to prevent accidental termination of important long running tasks. It has 3 modes: Always ask for confirmation, Automatic (which will only ask if there are ongoing operations and is the default value), and Never ask for confirmation. You can change this setting in the app's settings page.

Made improvements to the Optional Windows Features page. It now retrieves the results few seconds faster than before and uses the DISM service component from inside of the app's package itself.

Important

When important operations have been initialized by user such as security measure verification, application, auditing, or backup and restore, the app's icon on the taskbar will display an overlay icon indicating that there is an ongoing operation as a visual cue.
Updated paths to the Dual-use programs in the Windows Firewall category so they point to the locations available in the latest OS versions. PowerShell.exe and hh.exe are the updated program paths.
The file/folder picker now opens by default in the user directory instead of OS drive, completing this request.
The legacy Notepad program is no longer removed as part of the recommended actions in the Optional Windows Features category. Users have asked for this change as feedback due to various reasons such as the new Notepad not being available in Windows Sandbox (since it's an Store app) and also the new Notepad app having extra features that they don't need such as AI rewrite (which needs a paid subscription to work). The Harden System Security offers features to manage your installed apps or optional features very easily in case you still want to remove it or make any other changes to your system. As always, user feedback is very welcome and appreciated!
- When the decision was made to remove the legacy Notepad in favor of the new Notepad app, there were no paid AI features yet back then, but after they've been added and users sent me feedbacks about it, I've made this change.

PRs