Windows 11 Build 17152 finally brings back this hidden feature that has many users excited about the next iteration of Windows. What is this feature, you ask? It’s the ability to add toolbars to your Windows taskbar! Remember in Windows XP and Windows 7 you could easily add a toolbar to your taskbar and access it from any program window? Well, if you miss that functionality then build 17152 has some great news for you. Let’s take a look at how this works! Windows 11 Build Finally Brings Back This Hidden Feature
The How-To: Enable Aero Lite
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Have you ever wanted to enable Aero Lite on Windows 10? As in, that super-thin window chrome from Vista and 7? Well, a leaked version of Windows 10 build 10548 brings back Aero Lite – which is actually just a special theme. Here’s how to get it: 1. Run regedit 2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion 3. Look for the value UIShell 4. Double click on HintUITheme and change its value from 1 (modern) to 0 (classic) 5. Save 6.
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Every Windows user knows how important it is to have a reliable anti-virus system on their machine. Antivirus helps prevent malicious software (malware) from infecting your computer, and can also identify existing infections that may not be behaving properly. But most modern-day antivirus programs do much more than simply scan for threats; they’re packed with powerful utilities designed to help users safely browse online and maintain a well-protected PC.
We’ve rounded up five of our favorite free antivirus programs for Windows machines so you can find one that best fits your needs and preferences.
How to enable/disable other features
For example, to disable Windows Media Player, type mmc devmgmt.msc in a Command Prompt window and press Enter. In Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), select Media Devices from under Sound, video and game controllers. Double-click on your sound card driver and select Driver Properties from its context menu. Select Deinstall for each of your audio drivers and remove any other components that may be loaded for it—like WDM Streaming Data Renderers or Smart Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converters—that you do not need for use with third-party apps like VLC or iTunes. Restart your computer when you’re done to complete installation of these drivers.
Focus settings. You can enable different focus settings. ( …
In Windows 10, Microsoft moved some of these settings to Settings > Ease of Access. For example, you can now set up a camera shortcut to open your computer’s built-in facial recognition system from anywhere.) But you might be surprised to learn that Windows still includes several settings related to speech recognition. And they’re all in a single menu called Speech Recognition Settings (rather than being scattered around throughout other menus). You can find these in Settings > Time & Language > Speech Recognition.
Snap layouts. Snap layouts let you customize windows to your liking. ( …
) ) For example, it lets you arrange windows in a grid on your screen with each window appearing exactly where you want it. If you have multiple monitors, you can even spread windows across both monitors using Snap or choose to have all windows minimize so that only one is visible. And with an option for Snap and Zoom, you can use both at once—Snap to fill out your secondary monitor, and Zoom to take up your entire main monitor. (…:) ) For example, it lets you arrange windows in a grid on your screen with each window appearing exactly where you want it. If you have multiple monitors, you can even spread windows across both monitors using Snap or choose to have all windows minimize so that only one is visible.
Shake to minimize. …
For years, Windows users have longed for a way to shake their computers. But up until now, Microsoft hasn’t listened. In fact, in early builds of Windows 10, Microsoft even removed that ability entirely—likely because of copyright issues with an Apple patent on screen-shaking technology. Well, it looks like Microsoft has finally decided to listen after all these years and bring back what you really want: your computer shake. When you upgrade to build 18282 or later of Windows 11 … you can now just shake your computer and have it minimize all open windows (much like MacOS). Since Windows 9 never included that functionality…it could be awhile before we see mainstream support for multi-platform screen-shaking apps. But at least we can hope.
Voice to text. …
Microsoft removed built-in support for voice dictation in Windows 8, meaning users who want to convert their speech into text have to rely on a third-party service. That’s no longer an issue with Windows 10; Microsoft has made it easy for anyone to use its Cortana assistant in PC settings. To get started, just tap or click on Change how you type under Speech, inking & typing. The resulting page will let you enable dictation (for U.S.-English) with a click or tap of a button. When enabled, you can simply talk to your computer and watch as your words appear on screen almost instantly—it works remarkably well and is a feature many had hoped would return in one form or another.
Dynamic Refresh Rate. …
In previous versions of Windows, it was possible to quickly change your screen refresh rate by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting Display Settings. If you wanted to improve frame rates on games (or reduce power consumption) you could easily toggle between 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz. Microsoft recently removed Dynamic Refresh Rate from Windows 10, which means that users can no longer customize their display refresh rate in a quick and easy way. To make matters worse for gamers, Microsoft has also stated that it plans to disable overclocking in games in order to provide a more stable experience. With these two features combined, many PC gamers are upset about Microsoft’s decision—and for good reason.
Old context menu.
The Copy to Clipboard context menu entry is a throwback from Windows 95, where it would let you copy selected text and store it in memory so that you could then paste into another application. For example, if you wanted to select a few paragraphs of text to share with your friends on IRC, that’s exactly what it was used for. Over time, however, Windows and programs have become increasingly sophisticated; now it’s just as easy (if not easier) to right-click and use a Copy or Paste option to get the job done.