Author: Stuart Crawford

Apple Notes Tips

With the dawn of the new year, January is the perfect time to get your to-do list in order. But these days, most people’s lists are complicated agendas full of work and personal items, multiple schedules, and seemingly endless tasks. To keep things straight, one thing that can help is a savvy note-taking app.

Apple’s Notes is one of the easiest-to-use, most user-friendly apps for both laypeople and executives. It is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, meaning it can be synced across your devices for easy access all the time.

Here are a few tips for making Notes work even better for you.

Having a hard time juggling your to-dos? Use these tips to make Notes work for you.

1. Don’t just use Notes to save lists and text.

While most of what you record with Notes may be lists and notes, you can also add pictures, documents, links, websites, and more. Effectively, this can make Notes into a collage of sorts. It’s excellent for brainstorming and compiling research. Create vision boards for upcoming projects or folders and sub-folders to sort your ideas.

2. Collaborate with friends and co-workers by using shared Notes.

Whether it’s a shopping list you both want to be in on or a list of work tasks, shared Notes can help you stay in sync with your friends, family, and coworkers. What’s more, you can easily check the date and time on various edits to see when they were made.

3. Use dictation to make quick and easy notes.

Any time you think of something to jot down, tell Siri. A quick “hey Siri” will prompt her to ask you what it is you want to do. Tell her you’d like to “Make a note” or “Make a list.” Siri will ask you what you want it to say. Dictate your message, and you’re good to go.

4. Sync Notes with all your devices.

When you get that great idea in the car, add a dictated note to the Notes app. Later, at work, you’ll remember it when you see it appear on your desktop version.

At work, jot down your grocery list on your computer version of Notes. No need to print it out or text it to yourself before heading to the store. Once you get inside, you’ll have the same list of items on your phone and at your fingertips.

5. Try out the gallery view.

Organize your notes in a new way. While some people like list view for keeping track of files and lists, gallery view helps you visualize what’s in each note or folder. This view will take an image from the top of your note and use it as the icon for the gallery.

6. Color code your Notes for a simple categorization strategy.

Take advantage of the color-coding option on Notes. You can add a color tag to each note you create for a simple “filing system.”

Let’s say you keep three different types of notes in your Notes app: those related to work like brainstormed ideas and tasks to delegate, those related to personal affairs like grocery lists and to-dos, and those related to your kids’ schedules.

Simply assign a color to each of these categories, and in an instant — whenever you need to — you can pull up all the notes associated with the color/category you need to access.

7. Add tags for more detailed categorization.

Tags are commonly used on websites and with Internet search engines to keep like pages, blog posts, pictures, etc. together. If you want to use tags, simply type a “#” or hash and then add your tag. For example, if you want to make individual ongoing shopping lists for three or four different stores, tag each separate list with its own tag, and you’ll be able to easily find each one when you need it.

Tags should be short and simple words or phrases that describe a category. Multiple tags can be used on one note if you like. Keep them at the bottom of each note for a uniform appearance.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Make this year the year you get organized.

We hope these tips can help make your New Year’s more organized! Download Notes today from the app store, and be sure to sync it across all your devices.

Thanks to David with CEU Technologies for his help creating this article.

11 Unexpected Ways to Manage Chromebook Files

Chromebooks have been around for over a decade now, but at the beginning, they weren’t intended for file management, with the original Chromebooks not even having a Files app. Copying or moving data, finding files or wirelessly transferring and syncing files with other systems was virtually impossible. But as they say in show business, you’ve come a long way, baby, and today’s Chromebooks are designed to be sophisticated devices with plenty of file management options. However, the best possibilities are easy to miss, because they’re not available at the surface. If you use a Chromebook for productivity, these next-level file management options deliver a higher level of efficiency on your experience.

Ways to Manage Chromebook Files

1. Chrome OS revolves around Google apps, but you can integrate Chromebook with other cloud options. Install the Android app for the cloud storage service of your choice. Provided that the service works with the standard for the Chrome OS file system, such as OneDrive or Dropbox, you can see it as an automatic option in the Chrome OS app after you’ve set it up and signed in.
2. Though files downloaded from the web are also in your cloud, there’s also a local device folder. Type “chrome:settings” into the address bar of your browser window, choose Advanced and then Downloads on the left sidebar menu, then look for the line labeled as Location in the main screen area. Click the Change button next to that line to choose or create new folders in your Google Drive storage, so anything downloaded in Chrome to be saved to Drive is available as soon as you sign in.
3. You can crank up your Chromebook’s connectivity by setting up your Android phone or your Windows or Mac computer all sync downloads to the same Drive folder, which gives you an internet-based Downloads folder that goes across all of your devices. That makes any download from any device always available, no matter which connected device you’re using at the time.
4. Transfer files between your Chromebook and another Android device by looking for the “Nearly Visibility” in your Chrome OS Quick Settings panel, in the lower right corner of your screen. This lets you activate and configure Nearby Share so you can easily pass files back and forth between your devices wirelessly.
5. Create customized shortcuts to your commonly-used folders, either from your connected cloud service or local storage. Use the left panel of the Chromebook’s Files app to obtain easy access on an ongoing basis. Find the folder you want to add, right-click it, and select “Pin folder” to make it easily accessible.
6. Chrome OS Tote, at the left of the clock in your bottom status bar, looks like a box with a downward-facing arrow in it, and it will automatically show any files you’ve used recently. Pin particular folders or files by pulling them up in the main Files app panel, right-click the folder or file, then choose “Pin to shelf” in the menu that shows up.
7. Transport yourself into Chromebook’s file manager instantly with a simple key combination: Shift-Alt-M.
8. Next time you’re in Chrome’s Files app, switch between sections by using the Ctrl key with the number key that is related to its position, such as Ctrl-1 for Recent, Ctrl-3 for your Images, etc.
9. To save time on renaming, highlight the item in Files, then hit Ctrl-Enter to change the name without a lot of clicking or menus.
10. Use Files’ build-in photo enhancement options for basic changes. While looking at images in files, look for Crop & Rotate, Lighting Filters, Annotate and Rescale buttons at the top of the screen.
11. Add the Solid Explorer app to get a two-panel view to quickly drag and drop folders and files between locations, including home OS storage and cloud-based storage options that you’ve connected. It lets you add additional encryption as well as password-protected ZIP and 7ZIP archives. After a two-week trial, it’s only $3.

These easy ways to manage files in Chromebook allow you to get the most out of your Chrome OS system. Keep reading to discover more tips and tricks to make your digital life easier, faster and more productive than ever before.

What Are Workers’ Rights in the Face of Employee Monitoring?

As the use of technology in our everyday lives continues to increase, it’s no surprise that any legislation surrounding that technology is constantly lagging behind. After all, it’s usually impossible to know the potential dangers of technology until damage has been done.

Fortunately, legislation usually has a chance to catch up sooner or later. And that’s just what’s happening right now in regards to workers’ rights and over-monitoring by employers.

The Rise of Employee Monitoring Practices

The COVID-19 pandemic changed many aspects of our lives — from the way we get groceries and interact with friends and family members, to how we care for our children and do our jobs. Most notably, unless your job wouldn’t permit it or you already worked independently or remotely before the pandemic, work-from-home was an inevitable shift that most people experienced. Instead of waking up at 7am to shower, eat breakfast, and begin a commute to the office, millions of Americans woke up at 8am and made the long trek from their bedrooms to their home offices.

For many, the shift was a welcome change. An increasing number of people were able to see the joys of staying home and being more efficient on their own. Would-be hour-long meetings turned into short emails that were just as effective. And the saved time from these meetings, the commute, and chit-chatting at the water cooler turned into quality time with family members, plus more time for self-care, hobbies, and dare we say it — fun.

Unfortunately, this was the perspective of most employees. Employers did not share the same sentiments. On the contrary, many employers saw the influx of remote work as a problem. How could one keep proper tabs on their workers when they were at home and beyond their immediate control?

While some employers were able to navigate the work-from-home change quite swimmingly (“As long as everyone gets their work done, we’re good!”), others decided to invest in powerful new technologies that would leverage all of the micromanaging power possible in order to monitor their workers. This meant that even when workers were out of their immediate reach, employers could see what they were doing and when.

How close is too close?

It should go without saying that employee monitoring, on the whole, is neither new nor inherently sinister. After all, what is a boss’s role in the physical workplace if not to make sure their workers are on-task and not spending all their time browsing the web or sleeping at their desks?

Moreover, monitoring software is not entirely new. Even before the pandemic, many in-office employers utilized monitoring software to ensure their workers were ticking off their lists of duties at an acceptable rate. Web browsing histories were monitored as well, as were interoffice emails, software logins, and more.

So, what’s the difference now?

Are employees pushing back?

The key difference with work-at-home employee monitoring is that micromanagement is being carried out in people’s homes. Their personal lives are being affected, and employees are not happy.

One of the reasons workers are disgruntled is that their privacy is often breached. Some employees are forced to work in front of webcams, for example, which can lead to micromanaging at its worst (having to announce when you’re going to the restroom, for example) as well as privacy breaches for other family members or situations that are not work-related.

Warehouse workers and truck drivers, for example, are often required to have GPS locators or other tracking devices on them at all times. New technologies from companies like Microsoft and Fujitsu are even being developed to monitor emotions and how well employees are concentrating on their work — mostly based on facial expressions and body posturing via video streams.

Will a call for new regulations give more rights to workers?

Amidst the changes that COVID-19 has brought about, there are growing calls for better laws in regard to employee monitoring. Again, this type of legislation often lags behind, but it’s catching up now.

Companies that have obviously breached their workers’ rights are being sued and frequently have to pay out millions in compensation as a result. Both the United States and the UK have seen a strong demand for new regulatory stances on employee rights. Although these changes are still largely in their preliminary phase, it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing the rollout of new laws and regulations concerning this matter in the near future.

Can Technology Reverse the Workforce – Depleting ‘Great Resignation’ of 2021?

Although remote and other technology appears to be an underlying cause of the 2021 “Great Resignation,” it may also hold the key to a“Great Return.”

Many believed the mass exodus from the workforce had peaked in April when a total of 24 million had quit for the year. But month-over-month attrition rates have remained staggeringly high. More than 4 million Americans quit their job in July. During September and October, the monthly dropout rate hovered around 4.4 million, and the year’s tally exceeds 38 million and rising.

What makes this modern-day phenomenon perplexing is that the U.S. carries upwards of 10 million job openings, with an annual high of 11.1 million during July and 10.44 million in September. These heightened numbers seem to indicate everyday people are quoting David Allan Coe’s 1978 hit by telling the corporate world to “take this jobs and shove it, I ain’t working here no more.”

Technology Sector Hit Hard by Great Resignation

To date, at least 40 percent of the existing workforce indicates they are contemplating leaving their position. In the U.S., more than 70 percent of people in the technology industry say they are on the fence. Many appear to be positioning themselves to quit in favor of another job or just fall out of the workforce over the next 12 months.

Economists and employment experts point to wide-reaching reasons why people are dropping out in record numbers. Free money in the form of stimulus checks and the sharp increase in remote opportunities are considered driving factors. Cynics simply shrug off the movement, indicating over-entitled Millennials and Gen Z employees don’t have the work ethic of other demographics or can’t handle the stress. Such remarks are typically echoed from one generation to the next. James Forbis, an IT services expert in Cincinnati, OH shares, ” research and anecdotal evidence by people who participated in the trend highlighted the following reasons for their decision.”

• Failing Technology: Faltering laptops, networks, and systems frustrated employees who were thrust into work-from-home situations. Many had little or no experience working offsite, and the change was incompatible with a healthy work-life balance.
• Toxicity: Low incomes, stressful workloads, and feelings of under-appreciation reportedly led many to quit.
• Loss of Control: Pandemic displacement and return to brick and mortar facilities took away a sense of ownership. Employees tended to believe they were not “heard,” and their jobs felt dissatisfying.

Among technology sector professionals, more than 90 percent of employees were disgruntled about the lack of training and learning opportunities. It may seem counterintuitive, but the very technological advancements that helped shepherd workers through the height of the pandemic appear to be infuriating them.

But living in the technology age means that nothing stands still. New developments and innovative ways to utilize existing technology could prove invaluable in reversing quit rates.

Can Technology Help a “Great Return” to the Workforce?

It’s important to avoid looking at the Great Resignation solely through the lens of technology. There are wide-reaching cultural and economic factors in play that can also provide insight into employer solutions.

For example, Glassdoor senior economist Daniel Zhao indicates that companies may be shooting themselves in the foot concerning remote talents. He recently posed the question about how companies such as Amazon and Microsoft planned to compete over the same technology talent. Will they offer salaries based on adjusted regional averages or higher ones to prevent employee migration?

That same concept applies to small business owners who find themselves in a global talent pool. But in terms of the role technology plays, the following strategies can help usher in a Great Return to the workforce.

• Collaboration Tools: Easy-to-use apps and devices can help bridge the culture gap. Although people from different walks of life come to the organization with unique perspectives, collaborative tools support team building. Better remote connections typically lead to better results.
• End Big Brother: Supervisors who suddenly lost in-person monitoring were pleased to discover surveillance technologies. Loyal and hard-working employees find the use of screen activity monitoring, mouse click counting, and other metrics offensive. Organizations would be better served to use technology to fairly evaluate productivity based on outcomes, not the process.
• Maintain Remote Flexible: A recent Gartner study indicates more than half of the global workforce expects work-from-anywhere options. In 2019, only 17 percent of employees held that expectation. Given this live-work trend, company leaders would be well-served to invest in remote infrastructure.

Thought leaders who pivoted to remote workforces during the height of the pandemic are tasked with reevaluating their use of technology. Just as improved infrastructure, agility, and a willingness to adapt buoyed productivity, new strategies will help professionals adapt technology to a shifting business landscape.

 

Apple Business Essentials

A little more than a year ago, Apple acquired a platform called Fleetsmith with the intention of using it to create business management software. Now, that goal has finally come to fruition with the release of Apple’s Business Essentials in beta.

Based in the cloud, Fleetsmith device management software originally aimed to “balance the management and security needs of IT with the experience users love about Mac, iPad, and iPhone.” Now a part of Apple, Fleetsmith has been the foundational software for Business Essentials, a spin-off of Apple Business Manager, but for small and midsized businesses (SMBs).

Below, we’ll take a look at this new software and answer some common questions regarding its features, usability, and applications.

What Is Business Essentials?

According to Apple’s website, Business Essentials is “one complete subscription that seamlessly brings together device management, 24/7 support, and cloud storage.” Business Essentials works on all Apple devices, including desktop Macs, iPads, and iPhones. The unique thing about Business Essentials is that it is designed specifically for small and midsized companies. Qualifying businesses can have up to 500 employees or as few as one employee.

Apple’s Business Manager is for larger businesses that use Apple devices, but up until now, no equivalent software had been available for smaller businesses or startups.

How Much Does Apple Business Essentials Cost?

Instead of being a single-purchase software, Business Essentials is offered as a subscription service. Users can choose from three subscription plans. The first and most inexpensive plan is called the “Single device plan.” This plan includes 50 GB of storage and costs $2.99 per month for every device used with the software. It is a single device plan, and as the name implies, it can only be used with one device per user.

The next plan up is called the “Multidevice plan.” This plan costs $6.99 per user per month and includes 200 GB of storage. The plan allows you to manage up to three devices per user. So, for example, if you are self-employed and plan to use the software on both your iPhone and your desktop Mac computer, you would pay one subscription fee of $6.99 every month. If you had one employee who also planned to use the software on their iPhone, iPad, and laptop, you would need to pay an additional fee of $6.99 every month.

Finally, there is the “Multidevice, more storage plan.” This plan costs $12.99 per user per month, and it allows you to use up to three devices per user. It includes a whopping 2 TB of storage.

Should Your Business Invest in Business Essentials?

If you own a small or midsized business (or if you are considering starting a new business), Business Essentials could be a great investment for you. This is, again, especially true if you primarily use Apple devices already. The software is especially recommended for new business owners, sole proprietors, and self-employed freelancers. That’s because many of these individuals won’t have employees to start out with. This allows them to still get state-of-the-art business management software and pay only $2.99 a month.

Business Essentials is also uniquely helpful for these individuals (and those who just have a few employees) because your organizational needs won’t be too complicated, to begin with. In this way, it’s much better to use business management software that targets small and midsized businesses in particular. Using complex and expensive software that’s targeted at larger companies is asking for trouble.

When Will Business Essentials Be Available for Purchase?

As stated above, Business Essentials is technically already available, but it’s still in beta mode. This means that it’s being released to a select few users who will be able to test the software for free before it is officially launched. Apple has designated the spring of 2022 as when the paid version will be launched, but it is now taking applications for beta testers.

If you would like to be a beta tester for Apple Business Essentials, head here and fill out the online application form. Keep in mind you will need to have an Apple Business Manager account in order to apply. If you are accepted as a beta tester, you will have your Apple Business Manager account upgraded with the additional features offered through Apple Business Essentials.

Microsoft & Meta Partner to Integrate Teams and Workplace for Easier Collaboration

Competing Social Software Giants Offer Customer-Requested Consolidation of the Two Applications’ Best Features

• Workplace stated in May 2021 that it has reached a milestone of 7 million paying members. Microsoft similarly revealed later that July that its Teams platform had 250 million unique monthly users.
• Users will be able to link Workplace with Microsoft Teams thanks to a collaboration launched by Meta, previously recognized as Facebook.
• The collaboration between Meta and Microsoft is essentially a coming together of two of the industry’s biggest rivals in the business communication software sector.
• The alliance could become particularly useful to Meta, whose Workplace offering has a far lower user base than competing companies.

Meta, the social conglomerate previously known as Facebook, established a collaboration with Microsoft on Wednesday, November 10th, 2021 that allows clients to connect Meta’s Workplace social networking application with Microsoft Teams software. With 7 million paying subscribers using Workplace and 250 million people using Microsoft Teams, the collab has enormous potential in the enterprise communication space.

While Meta and Microsoft have partnered to unite two competitors in the business communication software industry, Meta’s Workplace and Microsoft Teams don’t completely overlap. Teams is centered on rapid communication among employees and their immediate coworkers, whereas Workplace is concentrated on large, company-wide interactions.

Clients may now access Workplace data from within the Teams application. Users may also watch video conferences from Teams on the Workplace application. Customers on both platforms can participate in conferences hosted on the other app without having to switch to that platform. For example, they can comment, reply with emojis, and interact in other ways without having to toggle between communication applications.

Ujjwal Singh, Workplace’s Head of Product, says of the integration, “[This] will make it easier for people who use both tools for work to keep up to date with information and create even more opportunities for company-wide engagement. The way our customers end up using it is customers use the complementary features, not the competing features,” he continues. “There are customers that are just Workplace shops, and then there are customers that are just Teams shops. This is really for those customers that use both.”

The connectivity will be especially useful for clients who utilize Workplace for daily tasks but use Microsoft Teams as their primary enterprise communications technology. This partnership makes the most sense for Meta because it enables users to access content in Workplace and import that data to other places where they invest the majority of their time. According to Angela Ashenden, Principal Analyst at CCS Insight, “by surfacing the newsfeed in Teams, Workplace can continue to reach those employees, while allowing comms and HR leaders to retain control over the communications and employee engagement platform strategy.”

Tools that facilitate remote work continue to gain traction as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and both Microsoft and Meta are reportedly developing deeper VR-based remote work solutions. This agreement reaffirms both organizations’ commitment to working remotely and accelerates Meta’s objective of creating a metaverse that delivers a completely immersive virtual environment. The move cements long-standing collaboration with other platforms, as Microsoft and Meta clients have already been able to link Workplace with Google’s OneDrive, SharePoint, and the Microsoft Office 365 suite.

The Head of 365 Collaboration for Microsoft Jeff Taper says, “One thing I’ve learned is there’s not going to be a one and only one communications tool on the planet.” He continued, summarizing that remote and brick-and-mortar office workers will toggle between several different tools to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity. The partnership between Microsoft and Meta shows promise in leading the way for competing tools to find ways for clients to integrate their work between applications and spend less time switching back and forth. Expect to see other large applications used in remote work to follow suit.

As far as the future of the collaboration is concerned, Singh has high hopes. “I would say we’re best in class around community, connection, people first and serving all employees,” he says. “Teams is arguably best in class around productivity, so this is really two best-in-class products coming together to solve an employee-experience problem.”

Picking the Ideal Unified Endpoint Management Platform

Unified endpoint management (UEM) software plays an important role in today’s business world, thanks to significant technological advancements. Over the years, endpoint devices have become more data-intensive, connected, and ubiquitous, despite the security risks associated with the software. Thus, proper management of the devices is a top priority for businesses of all sizes.

With the right UEM software, companies can streamline endpoint device management by maximizing security and organization. This type of software centralizes device management, ensuring a more efficient, cost-effective, and secure approach. Another key benefit of UEM is that it can manage IoT devices, wearables, and printers.

Here are the critical factors to evaluate when choosing the right unified endpoint management solution.

Robust UEM Security Features

When evaluating a unified endpoint management solution, selecting a platform with strong security features is important. The solution should have the capacity to manage virtual and physical assets more efficiently. These characteristics ensure that the platform protects your organization’s data and devices.

The UEM must come with advanced threat detection and defense capabilities to maximize device and data protection. Examples of key security features include anti-spyware, firewall, encryption protocols, and antivirus software. Automatic updates are another critical feature that helps safeguard your company’s critical assets.

Ease of Integration

The ideal UEM platform enables tech teams to integrate the solution with a wide selection of technologies for added convenience. Examples of these technologies include configuration management databases and IT help-desk systems. In addition, the platform should be compatible with various business apps and software programs.

A well-chosen unified endpoint management solution eliminates the need to worry about data loss by integrating seamlessly with your existing technologies. It also integrates easily and quickly without any need to make major changes or negatively impact user experience.

Device Security Policies

Your chosen UEM platform should allow you to set up a wide variety of policies, such as root detection, anti-phishing, and password-setting policies. This capability is vital to maintaining the security of all devices and connected apps and software.

The inability to set device security policies exposes your organization to wide-ranging security risks outside your premises. Another key aspect to consider includes integration with access management solutions to maximize the integrity of the devices while on the go.

Comprehensive Reporting and Diagnostics Capability

A good UEM solution stores and analyzes critical data to help you visualize various aspects of endpoint device activity. Thus, you gain full visibility of software status information, user behavior, device inventory, usage insights, and hardware status reports. A comprehensive reporting system allows you to monitor the system and identify issues that need resolving.

Automated Management

Device deployment is undoubtedly an undifferentiated activity that can benefit from automation. For this reason, your preferred UEM requires automated management capabilities for faster and more convenient deployment. As a result, you save a significant amount of money by avoiding spending time and effort handling the deployment process. The best part is that your staff receive the devices faster, allowing them to focus on core day-to-day activities and become more productive.

Pricing

Another key factor to consider when choosing a UEM for your organization is pricing. Some vendors offer unified endpoint management tools as part of bundled products, making it easier to get value for money. The vendor’s licensing model also determines the affordability of the software. In this case, you can save a significant amount by opting for a per-user pricing model than the per-device pricing model. Signing up for the latter is not cost-effective because most end-users perform their day-to-day duties using multiple devices.

Remote Environments Support

If your organization has remote work arrangements, it is vital to select a UEM platform that supports a hybrid and remote workforce. By opting for a solution with this capability, you enable your IT support team to manage mobile and traditional endpoints more effectively. As a result, you will notice an improvement in user experience and reduced downtime for your staff.

Non-MDM Deployment Support

Privacy-minded employees are typically unwilling to enroll in mobile device management (MDM) deployments. In such cases, your organization needs to choose a UEM platform that supports a non-MDM deployment. You can also opt for this route for technical reasons. Mobile application management (MAM) support provides a viable alternative because it allows employees to enjoy their privacy since the company has no access to devices.

Device Support

The ideal UEM platform fully supports various operating systems, including macOS, Windows, Wear OS, Linux, Android, VR, and iOS.

Windows 11 Tips: How to Get Things Done More Effectively

Windows 11 comes with a slick redesign and a comprehensive selection of new features. Although it shares many similarities with Windows 10, the new OS introduces groundbreaking features like Android app integration. The best part is that the operating system brings balance to your personal computer with easy-to-use tools that enable you to optimize functionality.

With Windows 11, you can take advantage of new convenient ways to connect with friends, colleagues, and family. The integrated Microsoft Teams enhances communications with free calls, texting, video conferencing, and chat functionality.

You can maximize productivity and other objectives by adopting a variety of tips and tricks.

Discover New Features

With the Get Started app, you can learn more about Windows 11’s latest features. The app makes it easier to port the Windows 10 preferences to a new desktop device. Likewise, Get Started can inform you about Win 10 applications that you can load to your new device, depending on whether you selected to backup your apps.

In doing so, the Get Started app eliminates the need to start over completely. Instead, you can follow prompts to restore specific documents, Windows 10 photos, and other files on the Windows 11 device. Backup and sync functions require you to sign in to your OneDrive account.

Be sure to check out the future of password technologies, which will be part of Windows 11 and Microsoft’s online services.

Organize Apps on Your Desktop More Effectively

With Desktop Groups and Snap Assist, you can organize applications on your PC in tandem with your day-to-day activities. By dragging an open window to the edge of the screen, you activate the snap function, which groups the windows into a grid of four or five.

By taking advantage of these features, you keep your screen organized, allowing you to focus on a specific task at a time. Additionally, Windows 11 can remember activities on external screens to help you find the pages where you left off. This option allows you to continue working, even if you switch devices.

Bring Back Folders on Start

Many Windows 11 users expressed interest in pinning folders to the Start Menu, a feature that is unavailable in the new operating system. Thankfully, you can take advantage of a workaround using the setting that enables you to display folders adjacent to the power button on the Start Menu. However, the feature differs from the Windows 10 version in that you can only show system folders.

To activate this functionality, you need to press the Windows key + I and select Personalization. Then, select Start followed by the folders.

Change the Touch Keyboard’s Appearance

Using Windows 11 on touch devices is undoubtedly a fascinating experience, thanks to the customization options. The new OS allows you to tweak the appearance of a touch keyboard to suit your preferences. This capability eliminates the need to stick with the default dark or white keyboard.

To change the appearance of your touch keyboard, press the Windows key + I and select Personalization. Then, click touch keyboard to choose the ideal theme based on the keyboard size. The operating system offers up to 16 preset themes, in addition to the ability to create your custom theme.

Typing Made Easier

The voice typing feature in Windows 11 simplifies many tasks that involve typing. Whether you’re composing an email or a blog article, you can count on the feature to eliminate the need to worry about typing speed or accuracy. Using a microphone to type your thoughts is a faster and more convenient way to work.

Unlike in the past, dictation required the use of a recording device and transcribing software. The best part about voice typing is that the process is instant, saving you time. Windows 11’s voice typing feature detects your voice’s rhythm and inflection to add appropriate punctuation. In addition, the new operating system supports the digital pen and touchscreen functionality.

Stay Focused on High Priority Tasks With Windows 11 Widgets

The new operating system provides a practical way to stay focused on important tasks. It allows you to curate priority tasks using widgets found on the Taskbar. With this feature, you can group to-do lists, news, reminders, upcoming meetings, and much more. This feature eliminates the need to find key content in different apps, pages, and tabs. Widgets provide access to personalized content at a glance for your convenience. You can find publishers to follow via the interest page.

A Quintessential Guide to Windows 11 Tips and News

Windows 11 introduces a wide selection of interesting new features capable of transforming the user experience. In addition, the operating system comes with a streamlined design, Android apps integration capabilities, a built-in Microsoft Teams conferencing application, and other notable features.

Examples of features that you can expect from Windows 11 include a revamped Start menu, snap layouts, virtual desktops, snap groups, and a redesigned Microsoft store app. MS Office 2021 will launch alongside the new OS.

Although the new operating system comes with specific system requirements, it can still run on older and unsupported computers. However, installing Windows 11 on an unsupported PC has its downsides, including the possibility of not receiving regular updates. Microsoft has not clarified ineligible PC support and the exact system specifications of old computers that can still run the OS.

On the other hand, unsupported computers could not participate in the Windows Insider Program testing processes.

Computer Manufacturers Announce First Batches of Windows 11 PCs

As the era of Windows 11 begins, computer manufacturers like Lenovo have begun introducing their first Windows 11 computers to the market. Lenovo’s first batch of PCs run on AMD’s Ryzen desktop processors.

These processors are ideal for multitasking, gaming, and other functions; they compare favorably against Intel processors. Meanwhile, manufacturers have also started to provide a list of eligible devices that can upgrade to Windows 11.

Other Notable Windows 11 News

The much-anticipated Android app support in Windows 11 will be available sometime after the launch date. Microsoft announced that there would be a delay in introducing this groundbreaking feature into the operating system.

When it comes to gaming features, Windows 11 does not have an exclusive claim to the DirectStorage, an API that boosts loading and texture decompression speeds. This advanced technology will also appear in the Windows 10 operating system.

If you own an eligible Windows 10 device, you can upgrade it sometime in 2022, depending on a variety of factors, such as device age and other system specifications. This phased approach enables Microsoft to assess the deployment and performance of the new operating system before expanding the rollout.

Windows 11 Trips and Tricks

Once you upgrade to Windows 11, there are various tricks and tips that you can follow to enhance your overall experience. For instance, you can download and install third-party apps to tweak the operating system. A good example of such a third-party app is Stardock.

If you are looking to boost performance or speed, you need to activate the concealed Power Mode feature. On the other hand, you can also tweak the start menu in Windows 11 to resemble Win 10. The new operating system comes with a centralized and simplified Start menu, including a taskbar. Microsoft has made it easier to revert to the old design or appearance for your convenience.

Features Review

One of the key features of Windows 11 includes less intrusive updates. Microsoft changed the way devices download periodic updates by enabling you to install specific code components on your computer. The tech giant confirmed that this approach could help reduce the amount of data required to install updates by up to 40 percent. Windows 11 installs these updates in the background to minimize disruptions.

Additionally, the system provides an estimated update installation time to help you decide when to reboot your computer.

When it comes to window management, widgets, and virtual desktops, Windows 11 retains the minimize, maximize, and close controls that form part of window management features. Microsoft introduced several window layout options displayed as a pop-up below a window. When you click on the pop-up, the chosen window immediately snaps to a predetermined size and shape.

Another key aspect of your Windows 11 is the impressive performance. This new operating system is faster, allowing you to work more efficiently and maximize productivity. It boots quickly and switches from one window to another almost instantly. Speed tests conducted by experts revealed that the speed improvements are more prominent only on the operating system’s front end. Meanwhile, back-end functions revealed modest or no improvements.

According to Microsoft, you can extend the battery life of your device by upgrading to Windows 11. The new OS comes with a dynamic refresh rate feature that optimizes your display, depending on your activities. However, this benefit does not apply to two devices without a 120Hz screen.