productivity

Google has quietly begun testing a new desktop search experience for Windows that looks and feels like macOS Spotlight but with Google’s distinctive multimodal and generative-AI capabilities layered on top, bringing web search, Google Drive, local files, installed apps, and Google Lens into a...

Google has quietly brought a Spotlight‑style search overlay to Windows, launching an experimental Google app that lets you summon a floating search bar with Alt + Space to query the web, local files, installed apps and Google Drive — and it combines that with built‑in Google Lens and Google’s...

Google’s experimental Google app for Windows lands as a compact, Spotlight‑style overlay that promises to unify web search, local file search, Google Drive access, Google Lens visual queries and a conversational AI Mode — all summoned from anywhere on the desktop with the Alt + Space hotkey...

Windows 11’s taskbar just gained a one‑click “Perform speed test” control — but instead of spinning up a native diagnostic engine, the button opens your default browser and lands on Bing’s internet speed test (the same Speedtest technology Ookla powers in Bing). Background Microsoft has been...

Raycast’s Windows beta already improves two of the most frequently used — and often frustrating — pieces of Windows input: the emoji picker and the clipboard history, delivering smoother search, persistent storage, and a more keyboard-centric workflow that will matter to power users and...

The Windows 11 taskbar looked like a fresh start—sleeker, centered, more modern—but for many users it felt more like a locked box than a customization canvas. A tiny, unofficial tool called Windhawk changes that: it’s a modular tweaking platform that restores missing functionality, unlocks...

If you hate Windows 11’s visual vibe, there’s a fast, surprisingly polished way to make it behave more like a Linux desktop or macOS without reinstalling your OS: install a full alternative shell called Seelen UI and treat Windows like a platform you can theme, tile, and tweak into something you...

Google’s experimental Windows app aims to remove the friction of switching windows to look something up — a floating, Spotlight‑like search bar you summon with Alt + Space that can search local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web, and that folds in Google Lens and the company’s AI...

Microsoft’s Copilot is no longer a distant novelty tucked away in press releases — it’s in your apps, and a short video can teach you more than hours of reading. Whether you want Copilot to draft faster in Word, crunch numbers in Excel, triage email in Outlook, or turn chaotic meeting notes into...

Tmux turns a single terminal into a full multitasking workspace, letting you run, manage, and persist multiple shells from one connection so long-running jobs don’t force you to keep a window open or interrupt your workflow. Background If you’ve ever started a long rsync, a build, or a migration...

Microsoft will begin automatically installing the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app on Windows machines that already have Microsoft 365 desktop clients installed, a background rollout slated to start in early October and run into mid‑November 2025 — and while enterprise tenants can opt out, most...

Built for speed and ready to scale, the push toward Windows 11 Pro devices—especially Copilot+ systems and Intel vPro® machines powered by Intel® Core™ Ultra—is no longer marketing fluff: it’s the practical backbone of a modern, hybrid SMB strategy that combines measurable performance gains, new...

Microsoft Edge is quietly experimenting with a new Visual Search shortcut inside its floating desktop search box on Windows 11, letting users drop images onto a small camera-enabled UI and get Bing-powered image results — all without opening a full browser window first. Background Microsoft’s...

Apple's macOS Tahoe and Microsoft's Windows 11 now occupy distinctly different strategic positions: Apple is pushing an aesthetic and intelligence-led evolution that treats the desktop as a personal, context-aware companion, while Microsoft continues to fold AI into a broadly compatible...

Windows 11 hides a surprising number of high-impact productivity tools beneath its clean new interface — features that can shave minutes off repetitive tasks, reduce interruptions, and make multi-app workflows feel effortless once you know where to look. This piece walks through the most useful...

The UK government’s recent trial of AI coding assistants has delivered striking headline figures — developers reporting almost an hour saved per working day, equivalent to roughly 28 working days a year — but the programme also exposes the tough trade‑offs that come with rapid AI adoption in...

Configure Focus Assist (Win10) and Focus Sessions (Win11) for Distraction-Free Work Difficulty: Beginner | Time Required: 15 minutes Introduction We all get distracted by pop-ups, chat pings, and noisy apps when trying to concentrate. Windows provides built-in tools — Focus Assist on Windows 10...

The author’s migration away from Windows 11 to macOS is a conversion driven less by fanaticism for Apple and more by pragmatism: fewer interruptions, a richer app ecosystem that matches professional workflows, and a single standout productivity tool — Raycast — that fills gaps Windows users have...

Waitaki District Council’s cautious, staff-first rollout of generative AI shows how a small public body can harness large language models for practical gains—while keeping human judgment, privacy safeguards and governance firmly in the driver’s seat. The council’s chief digital officer, Teresa...

Windows 11 quietly packs a toolbox of under-the-radar features that reward a little curiosity — everything from ultra-handy window management to productivity timers, built‑in screen capture, and modern passwordless sign‑in options. Many of these “hidden” tools aren’t new to power users but are...