Daily Archives: April 4, 2022

• 5 free utilities to help you get more out of Windows 11

  Posted on April 4, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Lance Whitney • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.14 • 2022-04-04

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  You can squeeze more features and flexibility out of Windows 11 with the right utility programs.

  You’ve just upgraded to Windows 11. And maybe you like certain aspects of it but wish the new OS offered more capabilities. In many ways, Windows 11 is a minor upgrade to Windows 10, with visual changes and some new or redesigned features. But otherwise, it’s still the same old Windows with the same limitations and constraints.

  One way to make Windows 11 more robust and flexible is through a good utility program. An array of utilities is available that will enhance or improve the OS in both significant and subtle ways. Among the vast number of utilities out there, I’ve come up with five free ones: Microsoft PowerToys, ThisIsWin11, Files, BeWidgets, and Winaero Tweaker. Let’s check them out.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.14.0, 2022-04-04).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 11 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Essential utilities, utilities, Windows 11

• Tying up loose ends

  Posted on April 4, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  The last few months have been unusually busy; this column has featured several deep-dive, multi-part installments covering Windows 11, Remote Desktop, and other major topics — along with some truly excellent reader mail spawned by those topics.

  But new information keeps pouring in, especially on Windows 11. So here’s a nonstandard, “catching-up” column that fleshes out and adds to some previous topics — tying up some of the loose ends and opening some new areas to explore!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.14.0, 2022-04-04).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Google, LangaList

• Secret Photoshop feature won’t open images with certain filenames

  Posted on April 4, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  An undocumented feature of Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and related programs makes the applications open but fail to load an image — and the apps then close abruptly — if you launch the apps using a filename with specific characters, according to numerous licensed users.

  This weird behavior, which is either an inadvertent bug or a deliberate Easter egg programmed in by some Adobe developer, can be seen on releases of the software all the way back to Photoshop version 5 (1998) and through Photoshop 23.2.2.325, which is the current version in Adobe’s Creative Cloud 2022.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.14.0, 2022-04-04).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender Adobe, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender

• Why can’t search just search?

  Posted on April 4, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft introduces “search highlights,” another feature we probably don’t want and didn’t ask for.

  In the April cumulative updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft will be bringing some changes to Windows’ desktop search. Unfortunately, it won’t fix what we really want fixed. Instead, it will be adding another feature we don’t want. The feature, called “search highlights,” began to roll out on March 22 to Windows 10 users who had installed the March 2022 preview update (KB5011543).

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.14.0, 2022-04-04).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, search, Windows Search