productivity

Microsoft has begun previewing two of the most consequential additions to the Copilot on Windows experience for Windows Insiders: Connectors that let Copilot reach into personal cloud services (OneDrive, Outlook email/contacts/calendar, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Contacts)...

Microsoft’s Copilot for Windows has taken a significant step toward deeper integration with personal productivity workflows: a new Insider build introduces Copilot Connectors that let the app reach into third‑party accounts, and a document creation and export capability that can generate Word...

I switched to Windows 11 because the combination of modern security, focused productivity improvements, and the platform’s AI roadmap finally outweighed the inertia of a decade with Windows 10 — and that decision was made easier (and more urgent) by Microsoft’s announced end‑of‑support deadline...

If your inbox feels like a never‑ending to‑do list, Microsoft Outlook 2025 still offers one of the most complete, integrated toolsets for taming email, calendars, contacts, and tasks — and this updated beginner’s guide breaks down the practical steps and modern features that will let you...

Windows File Explorer still does the basics, but for anyone who spends a lot of time organizing, searching, or moving files, the third‑party Files app replaces friction with speed, polish, and productivity features that Microsoft’s default tool simply hasn’t prioritized — from dual‑pane and...

Windows Terminal has quietly become the practical way most Windows users — from hobbyists to full-time devs and sysadmins — now manage command‑line work, and its profile system is the single feature that makes traditional shortcuts look increasingly quaint. Background Windows Terminal began as...

Windows 11 Insiders are now seeing a new, unexpected entry in the parade of Copilot entry points: a floating “Share with Copilot” button that appears when you hover over an open app on the taskbar and use the window preview. The button launches Copilot Vision against the contents of that window...

Microsoft has quietly pushed a new Insider preview package — KB5065786 — that surfaces a focused set of account-management refinements alongside deeper Copilot integrations and a long list of fixes and known issues, delivered as Build 26220.6690 to the Dev Channel and Build 26120.6690 to the...

Microsoft’s announcement that Puget Sound employees who live within 50 miles of a Microsoft office will be expected in the office three days a week by the end of February 2026 is a decisive reset of hybrid norms at one of Big Tech’s most consequential firms — and it changes the framing of...

Microsoft is rolling AI into the smallest, most ubiquitous text editor on Windows — Notepad — by adding on‑device generative features for Copilot+ PCs, and the changes signal a meaningful shift in how Microsoft blends local and cloud AI across Windows inbox apps. Overview Notepad’s September...

Microsoft is quietly rolling out another round of practical — and strategically significant — updates to three of Windows 11’s oldest built‑in utilities: Notepad, Paint, and Snipping Tool. Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels can already try a mix of incremental UX improvements and larger...

Work is changing shape: Microsoft is shifting Microsoft 365 Copilot from a personal assistant into a set of collaboration-first agents that live inside Teams, SharePoint, and Viva Engage — effectively giving every team, meeting, project, and community an AI teammate that acts on shared context...

Microsoft’s recent nudge to users — asking “what do you miss most in Windows?” — is more than a PR moment; it’s a revealing sign that the company is wrestling with conflicting priorities for Windows 11: glossy AI capabilities and the long list of everyday quality‑of‑life features that power...

Windows 11’s Widgets board is an underused but powerful way to surface the information you need without opening full apps — and adding, customizing, or removing widgets is straightforward once you know where to look and what to expect. This guide distills the practical steps for adding and...

Microsoft is rolling meaningful updates to three of Windows 11’s most-used inbox apps — Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad — delivering editable project files, faster in-capture markup, and local AI capabilities on Copilot+ hardware that together nudge these utilities from “basic” toward...

Google has quietly pushed a Spotlight‑style search experience onto the Windows desktop: an experimental, keyboard‑first Google Search app that summons a floating search bar with Alt + Space and can return results from local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web — and it bundles Google...

Microsoft’s long‑running habit of quietly modernizing its smallest apps reached a clear milestone this week as Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad received coordinated feature updates in Windows Insider builds — features that push these familiar utilities from convenience tools toward real...

Microsoft has started shipping a Notepad update for Windows 11 that brings true on‑device generative AI — including Summarize, Write, and Rewrite — to Copilot+ PCs, and those capabilities can run entirely offline without a Microsoft account or a paid subscription when executed locally on...

Google’s experiment quietly drops a compact, Spotlight‑style search bar onto the Windows desktop — summonable with Alt + Space — that unifies local files, installed apps, Google Drive and the web, and layers in Google Lens and an optional AI Mode for conversational, multimodal answers...

I stopped treating my Windows 11 PC like a personal to-do list and let five small automations do the boring, repetitive work — the result felt like a genuine speed boost in my daily flow. Overview Windows 11 is fast when it’s doing the heavy lifting, but it’s the tiny, repeated tasks — opening...