Your Local IT Professionals
Windows 11 Tips

Realign the Start Button

The first thing that will jump out at you is the placement of the Start button. Long located in the lower-left corner of the screen, it’s now centered with the rest of the icons on the taskbar. But don’t worry, you can change it back.

Right-click the taskbar and open Taskbar Settings. Select the Taskbar Behaviors drop-down and change Taskbar Alignment to Left.

Your taskbar icons move to the left and the Start button goes back where it belongs. For more on personalizing the Windows 11 taskbar, check out our guide.

Add More Options to Your Right-Click Menu

The right-click menu now focuses only on the most important settings. Should you need more settings—print, set a new background, or view the full file location, for instance—select Show more options to open a spill-over menu.

Customize the Quick Settings Panel

Windows 11 separates the Quick Settings that appear in the Action Center in Windows 10 from that panel’s notifications. Click the area of the taskbar that has Wi-Fi, speaker, and, battery icons to open a settings menu that lets you control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, battery-saver mode, and more. To add or remove settings buttons, click the pencil-shaped Edit quick settings button. Unpin what you don’t want or click Add to make new features accessible from the Quick Settings menu.

Add Tabs to File Explorer

A top feature added in the Windows 11 22H2 update is that File Explorer finally gets tabs like its macOS counterpart Finder has had for years. Having tabs saves you from littering your desktop with multiple File Explorer windows when you need to view more than one at a time. Just right-click on a folder and choose Open in New Tab, like you would in a web browser.

Pro tip: You can drag a file between tabs. Just drag it to the desired tab and then down into the file list for that tab. Also as with a web browser, you can drag tabs sideways to rearrange them and hit Alt-Left Arrow to navigate back in a tab.

With the initial Windows 11 release, Microsoft streamlined the ribbon at the top of the File Explorer menu. Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, Share, Delete, Sort, and View choices get prominent buttons at the top, saving you from having to wade through multiple menus you seldom use. Windows 11 also adds a New button for creating new folders and shortcuts, as well as documents based on the programs you have installed. The buttons displayed change based on context, too, so, for example, when you’re searching in the right-hand search box, you get a Search Options button.

Chrome to drop support for Windows 7 / 8.1 in Feb 2023

Google announced today that the Google Chrome web browser will likely drop support for Windows 7 and 8.1 starting February 2023.

After support is discontinued for these two Windows versions, the company says Chrome users must ensure that their devices are running at least Windows 10.

“With the release of Chrome 110 (tentatively scheduled for February 7th, 2023), we’ll officially end support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1,” Google Chrome Support Manager revealed.

“You’ll need to ensure your device is running Windows 10 or later to continue receiving future Chrome releases.”

Google’s decision to drop support for these platforms matches Microsoft’s Windows lifecycle policy, which lists the Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 7 and the Windows 8.1 end of support on January 10, 2023.

Currently, Windows 7 is still running on over 10% of all Windows systems worldwide, while Windows 8.1 is just 2.7%, according to Statcounter GlobalStats.

The Google Chrome web browser has a market share of over 65%, followed by Safari with roughly 18% and Microsoft Edge with 4.32% (which uses the Chrome rendering engine with enhancements from Microsoft).

Users advised to upgrade

Even though older Google Chrome versions will work even after support is dropped on Windows 7 / 8.1, Google advises users to upgrade their systems to keep receiving security updates.

This matches Microsoft’s advice for customers with systems running Windows versions out of support which no longer receive technical assistance or software updates, exposing their computers and data to security risks.

“Older versions of Chrome will continue to work, but there will be no further updates released for users on these operating systems,” the Google employee added.

“If you are currently on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, we encourage you to move to a supported Windows version before that date to ensure you continue to receive the latest security updates and Chrome features.”

Follow us on Facebook for more news and Tips
Enhance Computer LLC

More than half of PCs can’t upgrade to Windows 11

Data released today by IT asset management platform provider Lansweeper indicates that upgrades to Windows 11 have almost tripled over the past three months, but the overall adoption rate remains miniscule.

The survey of more than 10 million Microsoft devices by Lansweeper’s PC management software showed 1.44% now run Windows 11, an increase from the 0.52% of PCs that ran the OS in January.

“Overall adoption remains slow, almost six months since the initial launch of Windows 11 to the general public, as previous Lansweeper research revealed that 55% of devices scanned are not capable of being upgraded to Windows 11,” Lansweeper said.

Credit ComputerWorld for Info

Skip to content