Welcome to the February 2017 TWT Newsletter
Winter is drawing to a close here in Europe and we can finally look forward to brighter days, but for those remaining dark and stormy nights, what better way to pass the time than with some Windows computing?
Important! A number of our subscribers have had difficulty receiving our newsletter. At Top-Windows-Tutorials.com we never send out unsolicited e-mails. To make sure your TWT newsletter reaches your inbox, please add topwindo@top-windows-tutorials.com to your contacts, buddy list or white list.
In this months issue:-
What’s New at Top-Windows-Tutorials.com?
More on the Windows 10 Creators update
Tip of the Month – Print to PDF and save paper
Free Utility of the Month – WinHue 3
Windows Store App of the Month – Polarr
Net Neutrality in the firing line again |
What’s new at Top-Windows-Tutorials.com?
Last month we were happy to finally release our long awaited video update for our Windows 10 Superguide. This is a free update for anyone who purchased the Windows 10 Superguide. |
 Windows 10 Superguide video update launched
This month we’re excited to let you all know that we’ve finally launched our widely anticipated updated video pack for our Windows 10 Superguide. This video pack will update 36 of the Superguide’s videos and bring them up to date with the changes Microsoft made with the Anniversary Update.
This is a free update and anyone who has purchased our Windows 10 Superguide in the past is entitled to a digital download of these new videos. It’s also included with every new purchase of the Windows 10 Superguide.
In order to get your update, you simply need to contact us with your purchase receipt or the e-mail address you used to order and the rough date of your order if possible. See this page for more information. |
 More on the Windows 10 Creators update
There’s certainly no slowing down when it comes to adding new features to Windows 10. We’ve barely had chance to update material for the recent anniversary update and now we’ve learned that the next update, named the “Creators Update”, could launch as soon as April.
We took a first look at the updates coming in the creators update back in our November 2016 newsletter. Since then, some more details about the update have emerged, so here’s a run-down of some more cool features you can expect.
Sub folders on the Start menu/Screen – We’ve been asking for this one since Windows 8, with the creators update it will finally be possible to create a tile that acts as a folder or container for other tiles. So if you have a lot of games on your tablet, for example, you will now be able to create a tile on your Start screen and file them all away neatly. Other devices (such as the iPhone) have had this feature for a long time, so it’s a welcome addition.
Improved sharing – Remember the Share charm in Windows 8?, if you do, you may remember us waxing lyrical about how it would make moving data and files between apps way easier? We were a little surprised to see the whole sharing mechanism take a back seat in Windows 10. It’s still there in apps that supported it in Windows 8, but barely used in any of the official Windows 10 apps. Now sharing is set to make a comeback, with a new pop up menu that will make it easy to send photos, files and other data between your apps.
Microsoft Edge enhancements – The Microsoft Edge browser will be getting a number of enhancements, such as improved tab management, a new “wallet” feature for managing online payments and the ability to block Flash content on web pages (Flash is a legacy technology that is still used on the web for video content, however it’s often used by hackers to spread malware too).
Cortana enhancements – The Windows 10 digital assistant is getting some more upgrades too. Rather than having to remember commands, you will be able to ask Cortana for a specific app and see suggestions as to what commands can be invoked with that app.
Windows Defender improvements – The built in antivirus/antispyware app Windows Defender is also getting some improvements, including new options to run quick, advanced, or full scans, PC health reports and new family safety options.
There’s a slew of other improvements to general performance, improvements for super high resolution displays, accessibility options (including new support for Braille devices) and much more. Head on over to the official Windows blog to find out more.
As always, we’ll be here to help you with any creator update teething problems and let you know if Microsoft move or change any of the basic settings, but so far it looks like, thankfully, most of the user interface is staying the same. We’ll look forward to testing out the final build of the creator update in April. |
 Tip of the Month – Print to PDF and save paper
Have you ever bought something online, paid a bill or submitted some tax information that you needed a permanent record of? Rather than print out lots of hard copies of everything, why not create a PDF document instead? A PDF file is a digital copy of any document. Unlike, say, a Microsoft Word file, PDF documents keep all their formatting and font information no matter where you view them.
In Windows 10, you can create a PDF copy of anything really easily. Simply print a web page or any other document, then, when prompted to choose your printer, select “Microsoft Print to PDF”. Rather than getting a hard copy from your printer, Windows will then prompt you to save the file somewhere on your PC. Once saved to PDF you can make a hard copy if you want to or simply keep the file stored safely on your PC (don’t forget to make a backup too!).
This is a new feature for Windows 10, but If you’re running a different version of Windows you can get the print to PDF functionality with the app Cute PDF writer. |
 Free Utility of the Month – WinHue 3
Ever thought that regular light bulbs were a bit… boring? If so, you’d love the Philips Hue system. This nifty bit of kit lets you replace those boring, regular light bulbs in your house with multi-coloured remote control marvels. Far from being just a gimmick, these lights can then be controlled by your smartphone, or connected to light or movement sensors, allowing you to easily create an advanced, energy saving lighting solution.
Software that takes advantage of the Hue system can be found on all platforms. For advanced users, WinHue 3 lets you tap into the power of your Hue lights from a comfortable Windows interface. No more scrabbling around on the small screen of your phone, now you can set up your smart bulbs like a boss.
Grab your copy of WinHue from the official website here. |
 Windows Store App of the Month – Polarr
The Windows Store certainly has a good selection of photo editing and image manipulation apps and Polarr (yes, with two ‘r’s) is another one to add to the ever growing list. With raw camera file import, lighting and colour adjustments and effect filters, Polarr is great for working with your photos out in the field. The basic version is available for free while the pro version adds functionality and lets you create your own picture filters.
Check out Polarr in the Windows store here. |
 Net Neutrality in the firing line again
It’s only been a few weeks since he took office, but it’s fair to say that president Trump has been quite controversial. Amongst the travel bans and other bizarre executive orders, president Trump has made Ajit Pai the new head of America’s FCC. Pai is an outspoken critic of net neutrality and the strong rules that the FCC enacted in 2015 could unfortunately be under threat.
Just what is net neutrality and why is it important? Basically, network neutrality means all traffic on your internet connection is treated equal. If you access Top-Windows-Tutorials, the connection between you and us is the same priority as if you access a site like Facebook or Amazon, or any site around the world, big or small. Big cable and internet companies around the world dislike this idea. They see the money making potential in a system where consumers are charged more for “priority lanes” for popular services like Youtube and Netflix. Sure, you might be a Youtube addict and love the idea of paying a buck or two extra a month for a super fast connection to your cat videos, but how long will it be before your bill goes up and up as more and more websites get unbearably slow because you’re not paying for “priority access”? Of course, without net neutrality the cable companies could try and charge the website operators too. Small sites like ours cannot afford to pay to be prioritised and so would be squeezed out. We believe small, niche sites like ours are what make the internet great and true net neutrality is the only way to protect this.
It might seem a trivial thing to complain about with so many other alarming things going on in politics, both here in the UK and in the USA, but it would be a shame if Trump’s new FCC head were to undo the hard won victories that civic minded Americans won back in 2015. To learn more about network neutrality and what you can do to help defend the laws, check out this link.
That concludes our newsletter for February. On behalf of the team here at TWT, I’d like to say thank you to all our readers, new and old for your continued support. The TWT Newsletter will return on the 10th March 2017 for more tips, tricks and techniques to help you get the best out of your PC, be it Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10. We hope that you found this newsletter informative and useful. If you did not then please let us know why, you can contact us by visiting this page. If you have enjoyed this newsletter, feel free to pass it on to all your friends and family, or better still encourage them to sign up for their own copy. Until next month, keep checking Top-Windows-Tutorials.com and enjoy happy, safe and stress-free computing! |
|
|
