uBlock Origin alternative AdGuard fixes Windows-induced BSOD, promises dark mode everywhere

Earlier this week, Brave made a big promise that it would continue supporting uBlock Origin in a response to a social media post about Chrome "permanently disabling" the extension as Google deems it as unsupported.

That is not the case for Adguard though as it already has the Manifest V3 (MV3) extension in place since August of 2022. With the latest Adguard for Windows update that was released today, version 7.19, the software gets the ability to modify any webpage and add a dark theme to it using Userstyles.

AdGuard has explained how it will work:

Userstyles are custom themes that allow you to change how web pages look in your browser without modifying their content. They work by adding CSS styles to the website’s existing styles.

To add a userstyle, go to Settings → Extensions → Add → Import from file or URL. Feeling creative? Click Add → Create userstyle.

Aside from that, the update also brings multiple improvements and fixes including one related to a blue screen of death (BSOD) due to the Windows NETIO SYS system driver which is a network driver and is required by AdGuard to filter network traffic. The ad blocker says that updated drivers for both Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) and Transport Driver Interface (TDI) have been integrated.

The full list of changes fixes and improvements is given below:

Improvements

• Added userstyles support #5179
• Added support for the Floorp browser #5164
• Updated translation of the Fanboy’s Annoyance List description #5205

Fixes

• AdGuard causes a BSOD related to the Microsoft driver netio.sys #5169
• AdGuard DNS filter doesn’t work after re-enabling the DNS module #5146
• Dark theme missing in search bars for context menu #5157
• Disable Windows OS ads feature appears in Windows 10 #5193
• Double-click doesn’t work in Blocklist and Allowlist #5175
• Minor dark theme UI issue with scrollbar background in Filter Editor #4679
• Main window always opens at system start-up #5227
• Filtering log shows $permission rule instead of an appropriate filter name when blocking an HTML element #5231
• HTML requests are not displayed in the filtering log if there is a rule with the $generichide modifier #5213

CoreLibs (Filtering engine)

• CoreLibs updated to v1.16.44 #5242

Improvements

• Enable post-quantum cryptography when it’s used by the filtered app #1916

Fixes

• AdGuard content script is blocked by CSP on uber.com #1903
• GM_xmlhttpRequest doesn’t support the Referer header #1899
• Impossible to log in at sony.de in Firefox when AdGuard is enabled #1867

Scriptlets (JavaScript enhancement for filtering rules) updated to v1.11.27

Improvements

• Added allowed and denied values to set-local-storage-item #445
• Added line number support for inlineScript and injectedScript to abort-on-stack-trace #439
• Added checked and unchecked values to set cookie #444
• Added reload option to trusted-click-element #301

Fixes

• log-on-stack-trace — player did not work on deltabit.co #384

DnsLibs (DNS filtering engine) updated to v2.5.41

ContentScript updated to v2.0.6

UserscriptsWrapper updated to v1.2.24

You can download the app from its official website here. Also, note that this version of AdGuard is the last one to support Windows 7 and 8.1 and thus if you don't want to upgrade to a newer Windows, like 11, which requires a new PC, according to the official recommendation of Microsoft, you should stick to this release.

As an online publication, Neowin too relies on ads for operating costs and, if you use an ad blocker, we'd appreciate being whitelisted. In addition, we have an ad-free subscription for $28 a year, which is another way to show support!