New features in recent Windows updates will help you customize your PC, increase security, and get more creative with Windows. With these updates, it'll also be easier to get things done on your PC and across your other devices, including syncing to Android phones (7.0 or later).
Use Narrator, the built-in screen reader for Windows, to navigate apps, browse the web, and complete common tasks without a mouse. Go to Settings > Accessibility to turn on the built-in screen reader.
Dev Drive is a new form of storage volume. It gives developers what they need to host source code, working folders, and package caches. You can create a Dev Drive using free space on an existing drive or create a VHD/VHDX. Go to the Settings app within System > System > For developers. To learn more, see Set up a Dev Drive on Windows 11 (Public Preview).
To turn on live captions, use the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut. When you turn it on for the first time, Windows will ask you to download the required speech recognition support. You can download speech recognition support from Settings > Time & Language > Language & region. To learn more, see Use live captions to better understand audio.
In this mode, you can view application windows and their labels on the taskbar separately. To find this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. Set Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels to Never. There is a separate setting for turning this on for other taskbars when you use multiple monitors.
In this file explorer, recommended files display as a carousel. That carousel only appears if you are signed into Windows using an Azure AD account. To turn this off and show pinned folders instead, select the ellipses.
The new details pane in file explorer helps you access related content, stay up to date with file activity, and collaborate without opening a file. To turn it on, select the View menu and choose Details pane. Then use the button located on the right side of the command bar to turn on the pane.
You can preview images in full screen using the Learn more button. To open the Windows Spotlight flyout box, right-click the Spotlight icon on the desktop. To learn more about each image, double-click its icon to open a Bing landing page.
All colors on all windows applications appear accurate and consistent with Auto Color Management (ACM). To turn ACM on, go to Settings > Display > Advanced display. Choose the SDR display and turn on Automatically manage color for apps.
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio is added in this release. Your computer must support Bluetooth LE Audio to use this feature. With this, the audio fidelity and battery life are improved when you pair your computer with Bluetooth LE Audio earbuds and headphones.
Start menu now has the recommended websites personalized based on your browsing history. With this, you can quickly access the websites that are important. To turn off this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Start.
The devices that have a supported neural processing unit (NPU) can access Windows Studio effects from quick settings on taskbar. It is now easy to turn on and configure camera effects, such as Eye contact, Automatic framing, Background blur, and Audio effects.
There are two states of this touch-optimized taskbar: collapsed and expanded. To switch between the two states, swipe up and down on the bottom of your screen. This feature only works on devices that can be used as tablets and is on by default. If your company manages Windows updates for your device, this feature will be off by default. Administrators can turn it on using the new commercial control for continuous innovation.
Braille devices will continue to work while you switch between Microsoft Narrator and third-party screen readers. Narrator will automatically change the braille drivers. Additionally in this release, the support for new braille displays and new braille input and output languages in Narrator is added. For more information, see Chapter 8: Using Narrator with braille.
This feature is available for customers in United States, Canada, and Mexico. Copied items like phone numbers, dates will now have suggested actions, such as make a call with Teams or skype or adding an event in the Calendar app.
Improved search box experience: As you type in the search box, search results now appear in the search flyout box. You can also change the search experience you want for your taskbar by going to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. For more information, see Customizing search on the Windows 11 taskbar.
Provides AI-powered recommendations: For devices that are joined to Azure Active Directory (AAD), Windows now provides AI-powered recommended content on your Start menu. This helps you to prepare for meetings, quickly access files you're collaborating on, and more.
Display of total storage: This update provides the full amount of storage capacity of all your Microsoft OneDrive subscriptions and displays the total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
Added multi-app kiosk mode: This lockdown feature lets admins to specify the apps that run for different users on one device. Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people use the same device. To learn more, see Set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 11.
Enabled Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC): CABC is enabled to run on laptops and 2-in-1 devices. This feature dims or brightens areas of a display based on the content. You can adjust the feature setting from Settings > System > Display > Brightness & color.
Added a presence sensor privacy setting: If you have a device that has compatible presence sensors, you can now choose the apps that can access those sensors. You can enable this in Settings > Privacy & security > Presence sensing.
Narrator provides efficient reading experience in Microsoft Excel: Narrator prioritizes announcements based on what you need to skim a workbook. To learn more, see the Enhanced Narrator support in Excel documentation.
Enhanced Phishing Protection in Microsoft Defender SmartScreen: It helps to protect school and work passwords from phishing and unsafe use on websites and in apps. Go to App & browser control > Reputation-based protection > Phishing protection.
Use Microsoft 365 switch: You can sign in to and connect your Windows 365 Cloud PC to your local desktop. Then you can move between them using familiar keyboard commands, mouse clicks, or a swipe gesture. For easy access from your desktop, you can add Windows 365 Switch to Task view.
Make your Bluetooth device discoverable, then select Sound on the right side of the taskbar. After that, select Manage Bluetooth devices on the Bluetooth quick setting and select the device under New devices.
Add a file to Favorites in File Explorer and see it in File Explorer Home and Office.com. Make sure you're signed in with a Microsoft account or a work or school account. Then, select and hold (or right-click) the file > Add to Favorites.
Find the apps, games, and shows you want, fast, in the Microsoft Store app, including your favorite mobile apps that now work on your PC. Plus, search multiple streaming services at once to find movies and shows.
When working on a specific task, snap two or more open apps or windows to create a snap group. When you want to get back to the snap group later, hover over one of your open apps in the taskbar to find it.
Keep your device even more secure by removing passwords when signing in to Windows with Microsoft accounts on your device. Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options , and then turn on Require Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts.
Open the Google Play Store app on your Android phone, type Microsoft Launcher in the search box, and then install it. Once Microsoft Launcher is installed, you can get beautiful Bing wallpapers that refresh daily, sync your Office docs and calendar, and more.
To quickly take a snip, press the Windows logo key + Shift + S. You'll see your screen darken and your cursor displayed as a cross. Choose a point at the edge of the area you want to copy and left-click the cursor. Move your cursor to highlight the area you want to capture. The area you capture will appear on your screen.
Note: Using portal, I can drill down into each cloud pc, select performance and the 'last activity' field is there and it populates with last time user logged into cloud pc but have no way to export all cloud pcs with this field.
Noticed something weird is that if you export that report, the 'date last connected' column that gets downloaded to csv, gets renamed to 'LastActiveTime' and the value is in hours instead of date. And those hour values don't seem right, they don't coincide with 'Date Last Connected' showing in console.
You have a few choices when it comes to the material of the windows in your home. Wood and aluminum were once the most common choices, but new materials like fiberglass and vinyl are popular and, in a lot of ways, better choices.
On average, vinyl windows last between 20-40 years. Their life expectancy depends on the climate and conditions you live in. For instance, if your windows are exposed to harsh sunlight for extended periods of time, the vinyl will break down faster and their lifespan will be closer to 20 years. Windows that are in a shady area will have a longer lifespan.
There's a hidden Emergency restart button built into Windows that you might not know about. That's the sort of statement you'll probably have seen a million times on smug TikToks, but I'm only saying that because I only just found out about it today from a rather pleasing PCWorld story.
It's a last resort button, as Microsoft itself lists this restart as, and is basically your final call before a cold restart. That's either pulling the plug from the wall, hitting the reset switch, or jamming in the power button and until all the juice drains out of your rig.
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