workflow

Microsoft’s latest Paint update reframes the long‑running app as a serious low‑friction image editor by adding an editable project file format and per‑tool opacity controls — features that put Paint squarely in the conversation as a free, entry‑level alternative to Photoshop for everyday tasks...

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...

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...

Microsoft is quietly turning three of Windows 11’s oldest, most familiar utilities — Paint, Snipping Tool, and Notepad — into more capable, workflow-focused apps by adding an editable project format, in-capture markup, and on-device AI features for Copilot+ hardware, with the changes rolling out...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 Insider builds are shipping a new, full-screen renewal prompt aimed at lapsed Microsoft 365 subscriptions — an eye-catching SCOOBE (Second‑Chance Out‑of‑Box Experience) screen that insiders and early reports describe as a full‑screen nag to renew rather than a...

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 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...

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...

Windows 11 gives you more ways to capture your screen than most users realize — from the classic Print Screen key to a modern Snipping Tool with OCR and video capture — and the short, practical guide in the AOL piece distills seven quick methods for everyday use while also surfacing a few recent...

ZDNET’s compact roundup of "45+ time‑saving Windows keyboard shortcuts" is less a listicle and more a practical playbook: a curated set of high‑impact keystrokes that swap repetitive mouse motions for instant, repeatable actions and unlock features many users overlook. The author prioritizes...

Microsoft’s push to fold generative AI into everyday file management just moved a major step closer to most Windows users: Microsoft 365’s Copilot is now integrated with OneDrive inside Windows, letting subscribers invoke Copilot actions from File Explorer and the OneDrive Activity Center on the...

Windows provides a surprising number of ways to capture your screen, from the quick-and-dirty Print Screen key to a full-featured Snipping Tool that now includes OCR and video recording — this guide explains each native option, shows when to reach for third‑party tools, and evaluates risks and...

If you need to burn a playable DVD from a handful of home videos or make archival data discs for long-term storage, the software you choose matters more than most people think — compatibility with players, menu authoring, output quality, and reliability during the burn process are the difference...

Microsoft has started testing a native Android-to-PC handoff in Windows 11—beginning with Spotify—so you can start a song or podcast on your phone and continue with a single click on your desktop, complete with a one‑click app install if Spotify isn’t already on your PC. The preview is rolling...

Most Windows users don’t realize how many practical ways there are to open, preview, and even edit .ai files without paying for Adobe Illustrator—and which of those methods preserve vectors, fonts, and layers well enough for real projects. In short: if an Illustrator file was saved with PDF...

Your Android phone can instantly upgrade a tired laptop webcam into a crisp, flexible camera that supports front and rear lenses, higher resolutions, and far better low-light performance — and Windows 11 now includes built‑in integrations that make this easier than ever. The methods range from...

Microsoft’s Snipping Tool for Windows 11 is getting a practical — if incremental — upgrade: a new window mode for screen recording that lets you pick a single application window as the recording region instead of drawing a freeform rectangle around the desktop. The change is shipping to Windows...

KDE Plasma’s desktop delivers a set of small, disciplined refinements that add up to a very different user experience from Windows 11 — and four of those refinements in particular illustrate why many Windows users who crave control, speed, and muscle in their desktop workflows find KDE difficult...

Windows ships with a respectable set of built‑in utilities, but for many users those apps feel like checkbox features: serviceable, occasionally sluggish, and often lacking the power or polish needed for real work. A compact set of community‑driven, lightweight replacements can dramatically...

Windows 11 ships with more than a fresh coat of paint; it hides a toolkit of genuinely useful apps that can streamline work, tame clutter, and eliminate a surprising amount of friction from daily computing. While some preinstalled apps deserve the “bloat” label, nine standouts—Sticky Notes...