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Remember Cortana? Most may not remember the personal assistant that Microsoft baked into Windows. Even though it was rather mediocre, Cortana actually provided better Windows functionality than Microsoft’s new lovechild Windows Copilot. Included in Windows 10, Cortana was Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. It was a voice-activated tool designed to help users…
Microsoft introduced the Settings app in 2015 as a replacement for the Control Panel. The Control Panel is still available, but Microsoft moved some of its features to Settings in the years that followed. A recent addition is the Settings Home page. It is the new start page of the Settings app and lists a…
Optional Windows Updates fly under the radar on many Home systems. They come as different types. The most common is the monthly non-security preview update for Windows 10 and Windows 11. There are other optional updates, e.g., bug fixes, other non-security updates and also improvements. Up until recently, administrators had to search for optional updates…
Microsoft released security updates for all supported client versions of Windows yesterday. Only three non-Enterprise versions are supported right now: Windows 10 version 22H2, Windows 11 version 22H2 and the new Windows 11 version 23H2. A quick check of KB5032190, the update for both Windows 11 versions, reveals, that it includes the Moment 4 features….
Microsoft added support for creating and extracting ZIP archives into its Windows operating system. The Moment 4 update and the Windows 11 version 23H2 update introduced support for extracting additional formats, including RAR, TAR and 7Z. The archive functionality is certainly a useful feature. Right-click on an archive and select the extract option to decompress…
O&O AppBuster is a free application by O&O Software GMBH. The program enables Windows 10 and 11 users to uninstall apps that Microsoft does not want users to remove from the system. While some apps are critical components of Windows, the same can’t be said for all locked apps. Apps like Photos, Phone Link, Game…
Microsoft is working on adding support for creating 7-zip and Tar archives in Windows 11. The feature is in testing in the latest Canary build of Windows 11. Microsoft expanded support for different archive types in its Windows 11 operating system in 2023. Previously, Windows users could only extract ZIP archives or compress files using…
Microsoft released the 2023 feature update for Windows 11 yesterday to the public. It is already available via Windows Update, but only if the device meets all hardware requirements and has no known issues. Most Windows 11 devices can be upgraded via Windows Update immediately. The situation is different for devices that don’t meet the…
Environment Variables are an essential part of the Windows operating system. The variables are mostly useful for command line usage and also in scripts. As an example: when you type a program name on the command line, e.g., notepad.exe, Windows searches the variables to find the application. System environment variables determine locations for certain folders…
O&O ShutUp10++ is a free tool for Microsoft’s Windows operating system to improve privacy. Designed initially for Windows 10, the program is now also available for Windows 11. While its main focus is on blocking the operating system’s data hunger, it is also a helpful tool for managing other Windows settings. First, the basics. You…