Aside from that, Microsoft also claimed on a separate occasion that Windows 11 was designed to get the best out of the hardware available to it, and explained how it did so. Although it wasn't the case initially, Microsoft's claims certainly started to be proved somewhat right as Windows 11 was seen catching up to and keeping up with Windows 10, at least in the case of certain workloads.

Getting back to the Intel hybrid CPU discussion, PCWorld tested a Raptor Lake-S Core i9-13900K on Windows 11 22H2 and compared it against Windows 10 22H2. Raptor Lake succeeds Alder Lake and is built on top of the same Performance Hybrid architecture.

While there certainly were instances where Windows 11 was better, there were also many scenarios where it was not. And Windows 10 also came out ahead on quite a few occasions. Here are the benchmark figures for photo and video editing in PugetBench and UL's Procyon:

Up next, we have the scores in Cinebench (rendering), Nero Score, which tests the CPU, AI photo tagging, and AVC (H.264) codec performance. There is also Handbrake which tests video codec conversion or transcoding:

Following those, we have Chrome 107 tests, Procyon's Office benchmark results, and Bapco's Crossmark Enterprise test.

Finally, we have the gaming results which show almost identical performance across both OS except in the case of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is known to be a single-threaded title:

Overall, it looks like the latest versions of Windows 11 and Windows 10 are still trading blows with one another, just like they had been when Windows 11 was first made available. There are generally single-digit performance differentials one way or the other.

Source

Note: Statcounter's findings are not 100% accurate, so take reports like this with a reasonably-sized grain of salt. You can learn how Statcounter gathers its data in the official fact sheet.

According to Statcounter, Chrome currently holds a 66.16% market share. In December 2022, Google's browser lost only 0.02 points (down from 66.18% in November 2022), which might be just a margin of error. Microsoft Edge is unsurprisingly the second most popular desktop browser with a much more modest 10.99% (-0.18 points).

Safari is the only non-cross-platform browser in the report, and its macOS exclusivity makes it harder for Apple to push past its current market share. Statcounter claims Apple Safari currently holds 8.98% (-0.61 points). Firefox is fourth with 7.22% (+0.12 points), and Opera is fifth with 3.29% (-0.3 points).

As we enter the unknowns of 2023, let's see browsers' shares compared to the previous years to spot year-over-year growths or declines.

The overall picture did not change much for well-established players. Google Chrome has been stable in its 65-70% spot with periodical rises and dips, and the same applies to Apple Safari with its 9% market share. Firefox did experience a notable decrease in users from about 10% in early 2020 to the current 7.22%.

Microsoft Edge shows that disrupting the desktop browser market is a tremendously difficult task even for Microsoft, with its 1+ billion active Windows devices capable of running Chromium-based Edge. Although Microsoft Edge keeps climbing, its year-over-year growth is less than 2%. Getting users to jump-ship from Chrome to Edge is hard, which explains why Microsoft sometimes resorts to not-so-user-friendly practices of imposing Edge using all sorts of annoying methods.

You can find more details about the latest Statcounter monthly report on the official website.

Source

Compared to the browser's market share at the beginning of 2022, where Statcounter saw it at 65.38% and 62.06% respectively, it even managed to gain. These fluctuations may be attributed to the imprecise method of monitoring usage over time. Stats fluctuate from one month to the other.

If you look at trends, you may notice that Chrome's market share remained stable throughout 2022. Why is that? Why are not browsers such as Firefox, Brave, Opera or Vivaldi able to capture a larger percentage of the market?

Multiple factors play a role. To begin, it is important to look at the two main markets: desktop and mobile.

The situation is clear on mobile. Google Chrome is the default web browser on many Android devices. In fact, if you remove Safari, which is the de-facto only mobile browser on Apple devices, then Chrome's dominance becomes even more apparent.

Safari had a global mobile market share of 23.55, but the browser is not available for Android. The next Android browser is Samsung's Internet browser; it has a market share of 5.06%. There is virtually no competition on Android regarding web browsers.

It is more complicated on desktop. Chrome has a commanding lead on desktop as well, even though Google's operating system ChromeOS plays barely any roll on desktop. Microsoft with Windows and Apple with macOS dominate desktop. There is also Linux, but it plays less of a role when you look at the market share.

Apple does well with Safari on macOS, but it plays no role on Windows or Linux. Chrome leads on Windows, and even though Microsoft Edge is the default web browser on Windows, it managed to rise from 9.54% in January 2022 to 10.98% in December 2022 only. The rise came at the expense of other browsers, Firefox in particular, which lost a bit of market share according to Statcounter.

Why is Chrome dominating on Windows, even though Microsoft Edge is the default browser? Here, several factors are at play:

1. Chrome has been recommended for years, especially in the beginning, as it promised better speed and security over other browsers available at the time.
2. Chrome offers good compatibility, reliability, protection against security issues and speed.
3. Google services sometimes run better in Chrome, either because of new APIs that Chrome supports and others don't, or work that Google puts into improving its services for other browsers.
4. Google focused on speed and getting developers on board initially.
5. Google is using its dominance on the Web to promote Chrome exclusively on its properties.
6. Chrome is available on desktop and on mobile, and syncing works well.
7. Google has not modified the interface of the browser or its core functionality significantly in the past.

If you combine these factors, you end up with a fast browser that works well on the Internet, syncs between all devices, and is reliable when it comes to the user interface.

Even with plenty of great browsers to try, many of which are based on the same core as Chrome and offering more and better functionality, it appears that the majority of users keep on using Chrome. Why change something that works?

There is little chance that another browser will come along that is making such a big impact as Chrome did back when it was released. Most browser are based on Chromium, the code that Chrome uses. Even Microsoft, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, decided to use Chromium as the source for its new browser.

There are few companies left with the financial power and capabilities to produce a brand new browser that is not based on Chromium.

Chrome could see a reduction in market share when Google makes mistakes or implements strategies that are not in the best interests of users. Manifest V3 could be such a disruptive event, but Google modified it several times already to make the blow to certain types of extensions less painful or even noticeable at all.

It seems unlikely that the situation will change much in 2023.

Source

But wait! You didn’t upgrade to Windows 11 in the first place. All you did was buy a new PC and boom, Windows 11 was already installed. Surely you’re stuck now. Surely there’s no way to get Windows 10 if your PC shipped with Windows 11. If this sounds familiar, this article is for you. Below, we’ll show you how to switch out Windows 11 for Windows on any compatible PC. It’s easier than you think. 

How to downgrade to Windows 10

This process is really quite easy, but it does have more steps than desired. However, we’ve sorted all the steps into sections so that they’re easier to keep track of. 

Getting started

Essentially what you’re doing here is a full installation of Windows 10 on a system that natively runs Windows 11. This firs section is all the preparation you’ll need for the rest of the process. 

First you’ll need to open your browser of choice and head to Microsoft’s support website. 

Next, head to where you see Create Windows 10 installation media and click Download tool now. You’ll be prompted to save the tool to your downloads folder. 

Now, you’ll see a file in the downloads bar at the bottom of your browser named MediaCreationToolXXXX.exe. Click on this file to launch the utility. 

You’ll need to accept the EULA before you are allowed to install the tool, but this is standard operating procedure for all software, and this product is backed and created by Microsoft. 

Using the upgrade tool 

Once you’ve got the tool installed, open it, and you’ll see a question; What do you want to do? At this point, what you want to do is hit the first option, Upgrade this PC now. 

You’ll need to hit the Accept button again, and then, on the next screen, you’ll want to click on Change what to keep underneath the two checkmarked items. 

On the next screen, click Nothing. You don’t want to retain any files because you’re resetting your computer to an entirely new version of Windows, not rolling back as you would if you had initially upgraded to Windows 11. 

You’ll be prompted to click Next, and then you’ll need to click Install so that the tool installs Windows 10 to your PC. 

That’s it. All that’s left to do is wait for Windows 10 to install to your PC, and then you’ll be greeted with the OOBE (Out of Box Experience). 

Super simple

You’d think that it would be criminally difficult to get Windows 10 on a PC that natively comes with Windows 11. However, as you can see, it’s really simple. From here, you’ll be able to set up your brand new, out-of-the-box Windows 10 OS exactly as you’d like it. If you activate Windows 10, you’ll be able to use the limitless potential of Microsoft’s aging but still capable OS. However, if you want to use the product without activating it because you don’t have a product key, you can follow our guide here. You should also check out our article on how to change your Windows 10 wallpaper without activating the product, as you won’t be able to do this through conventional means.

How to downgrade your Windows 11 PC to Windows 10

Just a recap

This is just a reminder that you lose access to the conventional personalization options on an unregistered copy of Windows 10. This means that you’ll need to use unconventional methods to achieve this. However, it is still possible to change your wallpaper, and do a few other things in the way of personalization. So, rest assured, you’re not quite up the creek without a paddle. In this case, you’re up the creek with a paddle fashioned out of bits of flotsam and jetsam. It ain’t great, but it works. 

How to change your Windows 10 wallpaper

Below, we’ll list a few of the options at your disposal, starting with the old faithful file explorer. 

File explorer

All you need to do here is head to your Windows 10 file explorer utility and find the following folder:

C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper

Here, you’ll find all of the stock Windows 10 wallpapers that come pre-loaded with the operating system. Once you’ve found the wallpaper you’d like to set as your desktop background, simply right-click on the image and select Set as desktop background from the drop-down menu. 

Internet explorer

Did you know that you can use the default Windows 10 Internet Explorer to change your wallpaper? You can! All you need to do is head to Internet Explorer and find an image that you’d like to set as your desktop background. Next, right-click on the image, as before, and hit Set as desktop background. 

Note that the image you select must be either a JPG, BMP, JPEG, DIB, TIFF, TIF, WDP, JPE, JFIF, or PNG file. 

Mozilla Firefox

In the same way that you can use Internet Explorer as a way to change your desktop background on Windows 10, you can also use Mozilla Firefox. Simply locate an image file in a supported format anywhere on the internet, right-click on the file, and select Set image as desktop background. 

How to revert to the stock Windows 10 wallpaper

So, now you’ve downloaded a really choice image, but you’re not really keen on it anymore. Or, maybe you downloaded an image that isn’t quite of the same quality as the stock Windows 10 wallpapers. Here’s how you revert your changes. 

Simply head back to your file explorer and look for the directory C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper, and you’ll find the stock Windows 10 wallpaper nestled among a few others. You know the drill by now; right click, Set as desktop background. 

But wait, there’s more

Okay, what if you change your mind again and want a really high-resolution wallpaper to set as your desktop background? How do you ensure that what you download meets your standards? 

Simple! Check out Wallpaper Flare. This website not only hosts some of the most amazing wallpapers on the internet, they also cost nothing. The best part of all of this is that the wallpapers come in various resolutions. So, no matter the size of your screen, you can rest assured that you’ll have a beautiful, crisp, clean desktop background on Windows 10. 

Simply find a wallpaper you like, select the appropriate resolution, and click download. Next, you’ll need to head to your file explorer, find where you saved your new wallpaper to, and right click on the image. You know what’s coming next, Set as desktop wallpaper. 

So many choices

You really are spoiled for choice when it comes to changing your Windows 10 wallpaper without having an activated product. Anywhere you find a picture, you can right click on it and set it as your desktop background.

How to change Windows 10’s Wallpaper without activation

There are two main use cases for which Internet Explorer is still relevant. First, in environments that use websites and services that rely on Internet Explorer-exclusive technology; this applies to Enterprise and business environments for the most part. Microsoft added IE Mode to Microsoft Edge to address this. Content designed for Internet Explorer can be loaded in Microsoft Edge using IE Mode.

The second may not look relevant at all anymore. Some websites and apps use code to determine the user agent. The user agent informs the site about several parameters, including the used web browser (engine) and operating system. When done correctly, it may reveal the used browser and that may then lead to a custom user experience.

When done incorrectly, it may lead to false identification; this is exactly what is happening on some sites currently regarding Internet Explorer user agent sniffing and the Firefox web browser. Some sites identify Firefox as Internet Explorer because of inaccurate user agent sniffing.

• Internet Explorer 11's user agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; AS; rv:11.0) like Gecko
• Firefox 110's: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:110.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/110.0

And here is how that can happen:

1. A Firefox user visits a website in Firefox 110 or any other version up to Firefox 119.
2. The site in question checks for rv:11 in the user agent. Firefox's rv:110 value is identified wrongly as Internet Explorer in this case.

False identification of Firefox may lead to compatibility issues, display issues or functionality issues. Firefox versions 110 to 119 are affected by the issue.

To avoid this from happening, Mozilla decided to freeze part of Firefox's version. Instead of echoing rv:110, rv:111 and so on up to rv:119, Firefox returns rv:109 instead. The end of the user agent string displays the actual version of Firefox still.

Mozilla plans to restore the original user agent of Firefox with the release of Firefox 120. The organization plans to release Firefox 120 on November 21, 2023. (via Sören Hentzschel)

Mozilla changes Firefox's user agent because of Internet Explorer 11

Telegram’s latest update includes an overhauled media editor outfitted with a bunch of new tools to decorate — or conceal — parts of your image or videos. In an update on its blog, Telegram says it’s introducing a new blur tool that lets you block out certain areas of a photo or video, allowing you to hide sensitive information, or blur the faces of passersby who appear in the background.

 

To make the blurred portion of your photo blend in, Telegram says you can use the eyedropper tool to match the colour of the blur brush to your image. Additionally, Telegram’s adding a way to change the size, font, and background of text (sort of like Instagram or Snapchat) when adding it to photos or videos.

 

Telegram’s overhauled media editor lets you change the font, colour, and background of text.

Image: Telegram

 

It says its revamped drawing tools “dynamically change width” depending on how fast you’re drawing and automatically smooths out lines. Telegram also added a way to quickly add shapes, such as rectangles, circles, arrows, stars, and chat bubbles by tapping the “plus” icon in the editor. And if you don’t want your recipient to see what you’re sending right away, you can now apply a spoiler effect that adds a “shimmering layer” to an image or video that hides its contents until your recipient taps it.

 

Outside of image editing tools, Telegram’s latest update includes new storage options that let you automatically remove cached data in private chats, groups, and channels after a certain period of time, all while excluding the chats of your choosing. While Telegram previously let you clear your cache across all chats, this should make it easier to free up space automatically without affecting important conversations. It’s introducing a handy new pie chart as well, which shows how much storage different types of files, like videos, documents, music, and photos, are taking up.

 

 

The spoiler effect lets you hide the contents of a photo or video until your recipient taps on it.

Image: Telegram

 

There are also some other new settings that allow you to choose profile pictures for contacts that only you’ll see — perfect if you have a certain unflattering picture you’d like to be reminded of each time someone messages you. You can even suggest profile pictures for specific contacts, which they can then swap out if they like what you’ve chosen. And if you already limit the visibility of your profile picture to your contacts only, Telegram now gives you the option to set a public profile picture that everyone can see. On the other hand, you can now set the visibility of your profile picture to “nobody” if you don’t want anyone on the app to see your picture, not even your contacts.

 

Other minor features include new animated and interactive emoji, a new progress animation on Android, and the ability for group admins to hide their member lists. This package of updates adds to the list of several other features Telegram added over the course of the last few months, including a way for Telegram users to sign up without a phone number and video transcription for Premium users.

 

Telegram’s revamped media editor adds a blur tool and more text options

Sometimes, sending emails too quickly without complete information or proper attachments can have unintended consequences. However, if it’s done accidentally, you can try and correct this mistake by editing the old email and adding all the missing information. Microsoft Outlook supports this feature through its Resend or Recall option. It also has the option to delay the delivery of emails.

Replace a message in Outlook 365 app after it has been sent

Before you attempt to recall a message in Outlook and edit it, remember that both you and the recipient must have Microsoft Outlook email addresses. Second, the email can only be recalled if it has not been read or opened by the recipient yet. Also, the method works only on a Windows Computer.

1. To edit or replace a message that was sent earlier via Outlook, go to the Sent Items folder and double-click the message to open it. Then, go to the File menu, located in the upper-left corner of the Ribbon menu.

   

    

2. Hit the drop-down button next to Resend or Recall tile. This option lets you recall a message from recipients to change or edit it and then, re-send it.

   

    

3. Among the two options displayed, select Recall this message option.

   

    

4. A Recall This Message pop-up window should appear on your computer screen. Check the Delete unread copies and replace with a new message option. Hit the Ok button, when done.

   

    

5. This will open the sent message so you can edit and re-send it. As shown in the image above my earlier message was missing an important attachment. So, I used the recall option to edit it and add the attachment.

   

    

6. When done, hit the Send button to send the email.

So, the next time you make a mistake or send an email with incomplete information, don’t spend time drafting a creative excuse but use the recall option to edit it and make it mistake-free, before it’s read by the recipient.

How to replace or edit a message in Outlook 365 app after it has been sent

We would like to encourage you to name your top picks for the year 2022 down in the comment sections. We have surely missed some great new entries or updates due to the limited nature of the listing.

PicPick

PicPick is not a new application, but it received several major updates this year. Up until last year, PicPick supported image captures only; this changed in 2022 with support for screen recording.

Screen capturing is one of the best, as it supports all modes that one expects from a good screen capturing software. You can capture full-screen, region, fixed region, windows, scrolling windows or freehand. The screen recorder supports video captures.

Version 7.0 of PicPick was released in 2022 as well. It introduced support for delayed captures among other things.

RSS Guard

The open source cross-platform RSS reader RSS Guard has received several important updates this year. It is a locally installed feed reader that supports online feed services that users may integrate. It may also be used using local data only, if that is preferred.

RSS Guard supports features such as article filtering, feed groups, website scraping, notifications, downloader and much more.

Several features were introduced or improved in 2022. To name just a few: options to turn off feeds, intelligent sync for Feedly, improved autostart functionality, new network-usage friendly two-way article syncing, fast feed and article refresh rates, customizable skin colours for feeds with new articles, and sample article filters.

IrfanView

IrfanView is a popular graphic viewer for Windows. The application supports all image formats that you can throw at it. Plugins may be installed to increase the functionality further. Some users may dislike the old-fashioned look, but it is the functionality that is impressive.

IrfanView was updated once in 2022. The new version, IrfanView 4.60 includes major feature additions. It supports a new PDF plugin to view PDF documents, can save slideshows as MP4 video, includes options to add images to PDF documents and edit them, and includes a new hotkey to look up GPS information on Google Maps.

Rufus

Rufus is a free tool to create bootable USB drives. It may be used to put ISO images, such as Windows 11 or Linux ISOs, on a USB drive. These may then be used to install the operating system or, in the case of Linux, run live versions.

Rufus was updated several times in 2022. Several of the updates improved the handling for Windows 11. One of the major feature additions was support for bypassing system requirements of Windows 11 during installation or in-place upgrades.

DoNotSpy11

DoNotSpy11 is a tweaker for Windows 10 and 11 systems. The new version is an updated version of the original application that supports Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system.

It may be used to improve privacy on Windows 11 by disabling certain features, changing permissions and more. The new version of DoNotSpy supports Microsoft Office as well, which may also be tamed in regards to privacy.

FastCopy

FastCopy is a file transfer tool for Windows. It can be used to improve the copying of files from one location to another, and for backup purposes. Like TeraCopy and others, FastCopy supports transfer verifications, It may also improve transfers and supports copying files that exceed the 260 character path limit on Windows.

FastCopy introduced support for OpenSSL and SHA-512 verify in 2022. Other new features include reduced CPU usage when using SHA-256 and improved hard drive I/O speed.

Calibre

The ebook reader and management app Calibre has seen several releases in 2022. The developers released Calibre 6.0 in July, introducing full text search capabilities and support for new architectures (Mac and Linux). Downside was the dropping of 32-bit support in the same release.

Other new or improved features in 2022 included metadata downloads from Amazon, more news sources, search for nearby words functionality, and plenty of tag browser improvements.

FastStone Image Viewer

FastStone Image Viewer was updated in 2022 for the first time since March 2020. The developers have added important features to the application, including a new database engine to improve performance, capacity and reliability.

FastStone Image Viewer 7.6 introduced a new rating system, new sorting options, optimizations, and more. Version 7.7, released just a few months after version 7.6, improved GPS and RAW file support, the loading of HEIC and HEIF, and text rendering quality in slideshow.

WingetUI

Winget, the Windows Package Manager, is a powerful tool to install, uninstall or update software on Windows. It is a command line app, which may deter some users. WingetUI offers a graphical user interface for much of winget's functionality.

It can also be used to search for updates for installed applications, install programs from a huge database, or uninstall applications.

Xenia (Ashwin's pick)

For the past couple of years, I've kept trying Xenia's Canary build once every few months hoping to play Red Dead Redemption, but the performance was quite terrible. The Xbox 360 emulator's devs dropped a major update for Xenia in August, which improved the performance significantly. After tinkering with the game's patches, and modifying a couple of other settings, I'm finally able to play RDR at a stable frame rate. Xenia is hands-down my best updated app of 2022.

Now You: what were your favorite programs for Windows in 2022?

10 Top Windows Software picks for 2022

Windhawk is developed by Ramen Software, which some may know from applications such as 7+ Taskbar Tweaker or Textify.

Windhawk's approach to customizing Windows is different, as it is basing all tweaks on mods. First and third-party mods are available, and developers may contribute their modifications so that they are available for all users of the application.

New users may check out the available modifications for Windhawk here. To mention just a few: add taskbar labels for Windows 11, disable the grouping of items on the taskbar, customize the taskbar clock, e.g., by adding seconds, change the size of taskbar icons on Windows 11, or control the volume with just the mouse wheel.

Windhawk can be installed or run as a portable app. The latter does not write the modifications to the Registry.

Windhawk 1.0 Beta is the culmination of about 10 months of user and developer feedback. The new version includes major improvements. Here is the list of the most important changes in the release:

• Mods include a changelog now, which lists changes made to the individual releases. To access this, select details and switch to the changelog tab.
• Advanced options are now available for mods; these include options to override target processes, export settings, and use debug logging functionality.
• Advanced settings are available for all users. These support excluding processes from Windhawk, so that they are never touched by its mods, including processes,  to hide the system tray icon, change the logging verbosity or the mod initialization dialog delay.
• A right-click on the system tray icon displays an option to display all loaded mods.
• Loading Windhawk's user interface does not require UAC anymore.

Windhawk 1.0 Beta includes several bug fixes. The developer improved compatibility with the Firefox web browser, an incorrect memory free that resulted in the showing of a warning, and that updates would enable disabled mods again.

Additional information about all changes, including those for developers, are found on the official site.

Closing Words

Windhawk users are encouraged to provide feedback. The next major release will likely see the dropping of the beta label.

Now You: have you tried Windhawk?

Windhawk 1.0 Beta: new version of the modular Windows customizer

Starting off with chat and collaboration improvements, we have the ability to delete chats without impacting other members of the chat, along with the option to react to specific messages with up to 800 emoji. Another productivity enhancement enables users to add new members to a chat using the "@" symbol rather than through the add-dialog. Furthermore, AI-powered suggestions will now be offered, recommending members for a chat as you spin it up. Finally, the resource-specific consent (RSC) permissions model has been expanded to cover chats and channels, and up to two participants can be designated for the sign language view with the ability to also enable captions across all meetings.

Over on the devices side, we have Whiteboard enhancements and Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android Update 3, which we have covered in detail here. Newly certified Teams devices include the Neat Bar Pro, Jabra Evolve Buds, Jabra Evolve 2 55 Headset (Jabra also recently fixed a Teams issue with its Engage 75 headset), and the EPOS EXPAND Vision 1.

Meanwhile, platform enhancements include the ability to save an approval request as a PDF to save, print, and share. In the same vein, Adobe Acrobat has a new integration for a seamless PDF experience in Teams.

Lastly, frontline workers utilizing shared devices can now leverage Edge and Yammer apps on Android alongside Teams, while Government customers can have the ability to view the transcript of a meeting in Teams on Android and iOS.

Here are all the new features Microsoft added to Teams in December 2022

Media Blur. One year ago, Telegram introduced text spoilers that let you blur text in messages. The same feature is now available for media, allowing users to blur photos and videos with a shimmering layer that requires a tap to "break the spell."

Zero-Storage Use. With the latest update, Telegram offers customers much more robust and granular control over storage use. Users can add separate auto-remove settings for different types of storage Telegram takes, such as media from private chats, groups, and channels. Besides, you can set exceptions for specific conversations.

On top of that, Telegram now features a detailed storage pie chart to help visualize what is taking up space and how much.

New Drawing and Text Tools. Built-in drawing tools now feature line smoothing with dynamic width that depends on drawing speed. Also, you blur parts of the image to protect sensitive data when sending photos or screenshots.

Another notable change is the ability to select a background, font, and size when adding text to images. Besides, you can add animated emojis to pictures, and they will be visible to all Telegram users, not only Premium subscribers.

Set profile images for contacts. You can now add your own photos to your contacts, visible just for you. However, Telegram lets you suggest a profile picture to a specific contact, which is a convenient tool when you have a nice picture of a person without a profile image.

New privacy settings for profile images. Telegram allows hiding your profile images from select (or all) users. With the latest update, the feature gets even more options, letting you select a public photo separate from the image visible to your contacts or select customers only.

Hiding group members. Group admins with 100+ members can disable the member list, preventing people from getting access to people who do not send messages. Only admins will see the list of people in the group when the setting is on.

More. The latest Telegram release adds new animations on Android, a few sets of animated emojis, and more interactive emojis that play whacky animations when you tap them.

You can find links for downloading Telegram on your device on the official Telegram website. Full release notes are available in a post on the official blog.

Telegram's last update in 2022 adds new drawing tools, much-improved profile images, more

Windows 11 saw a number of small and large updates throughout 2022, with the biggest being the recent 22H2 update. We didn’t receive anything truly monumental, but the constant stream of updates helped make Microsoft’s operating system stronger than when it debuted. As things stand, Windows 11 is finally worth upgrading to.

But what can we expect from Windows 11 in 2023? There isn't a lot of information out there, but we’ll likely see another year of incremental improvements as Microsoft continues making its OS work seamlessly both on PC and mobile devices. Even if that isn’t terribly exciting, Windows users can at least rest easy knowing they’ll likely have an overall better experience in 2023.

Here’s what we expect from Windows 11 in 2023.

No more annual updates

It seems 22H2 was the last big Windows 11 update. According to sibling site Windows Central(opens in new tab), Microsoft is returning to a more traditional three-year release cycle for major versions of Windows, with frequent smaller updates to existing packages between major releases.

Internally, Microsoft calls these updates “Moments.” Moment 1 launched a month after 22H2 and introduced features such as tabbed File Explorer, taskbar overflow, Android apps support, Amazon App Store, iCloud photos in the Photos app, and more.

Windows update 22H2 introduced features like tabbed File Explorer. (Image credit: Microsoft)

 

As for the frequency of Moments, Microsoft will reportedly release no more than four a year. If this is true, it seems we should get one of these updates every three months — which is roughly one per season.

Given how the next major Windows update won’t happen until 2024, it’s not unreasonable to assume this update could be Windows 12. But it’s still early to discuss that.

What new features will we see? 

So what can we expect to see in Moments updates? We don’t have anything concrete on that end, but some reports give us a hint of what to expect.

In a video from April 2022(opens in new tab), Zac Bowden and Daniel Rubino from Windows Central discuss what they believe 23H2 would feature. Given how 23H2 (or the Sun Valley 3 update) is no longer happening as a stand-alone update, we could see its features distributed throughout the year as Moments.

Update 23H2 (Sun Valley 3) was expected to arrive in October 2023. However, we'll now get as many as four Windows updates known as "Moments." (Image credit: Future)

Bowden believes Windows 11 will become even more touch-friendly. This part is not too surprising given how well Windows 11 works on touchscreens like those found on the Microsoft Surface Pro 9. Bowden says a dedicated tablet UI might be introduced next year.

Android apps were finally introduced to Windows 11 this year and it seems this collaboration will continue in 2023. Bowden thinks an upcoming Windows update will improve communication between Windows and Android. The current Phone Link app (formerly Your Phone) allows users to pair their phones and PC, but it appears this functionality will improve next year.

Windows 11 will reportedly work better on foldable devices like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2022 pictured above. (Image credit: Future)

In the same video, Rubino hints that Windows 11 will be further optimized to work on foldable Windows devices. If true, devices like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2022 could run even better, though it remains to be seen in what capacity.

Other possible features coming to Windows 11 in 2023 include a system-wide dark mode, and an option for app folders on the desktop.

Windows 11 in 2023 

We don't have too much information about Windows 11 in 2023, but the little we know is certainly intriguing.

Returning to a three-year cycle for major updates is certainly a big deal. For those who remember, this was how Windows updates were released prior to Windows 10. But receiving "Moments" every few months should still ensure the best computers and best Windows laptops remain up-to-date with the latest features. And while substantial updates may be infrequent, we're sure Windows will dole out security updates when necessary.

Getting Windows to work better on foldable devices or Windows machines with different form factors is another interesting thing to look forward to. Even though I'm not sold on foldable laptops, I can see these devices gaining more traction in 2023. If that's the case, it's good that Microsoft is already taking foldables into account.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to seeing how (or if) Microsoft can make widgets an important part of the Windows experience. Like some users, I almost never use widgets. I see how they could be useful in getting a quick snapshot of the news, weather or stock report, but it's still easier pulling up that information on my phone. Regardless, I'm eager to see widgets implemented in a more intuitive fashion next year.

For everything Windows-related, be sure to stick with Tom's Guide in 2023 for the latest news updates.

Source

Please note that the developers see the new version as a brand new program. It lacks some features of the old, but the old remains available.

New and existing users of Any Video Converter Free may download the new version from the official developer website. Existing users find an option to check for updates in the main program window under Menu > Check for Updates.

Any Video Converter Free supports more than 100 different media formats that it can convert.

Any Video Converter Free 8.0

The developers have altered the interface of the application significantly; this is the major and only change in the new video converter version.

When it is run, Any Video Converter displays a list of single tools at the top and an option to create a workflow at the bottom. The following single tools are provided:

• Video Converter -- convert videos from one format to another.
• Video Cutter -- cut videos.
• Video Cropper -- crop videos to remove parts that you want deleted.
• Video Merger -- merge multiple video clips to create a single video file.
• Audio Filter -- adjust audio related settings such as volume or effects for videos.
• Video Downloader -- download videos from various online video streaming services.

Workflow enables users to combine these single tools so that they are executed in the selected order. All tools, with the exception of the video downloader, may be added to workflows.

You could convert videos, then merge them, or merge videos before making audio changes to them.

Any Video Converter Free users who have used previous versions off the application may notice that some features are missing from it. Some capabilities, like anything that has to do with ripping media from discs or burning them to discs, appears to be missing in this release.

The developers note on Facebook that version 8.0.0 is a brand new version that is different from the previous version. The old version remains on the servers for the time being to make sure that users have the choice regarding the two versions.

Closing words

Any Video Converter Free 8.0 is still a powerful program, but it lacks features of the previous version. It remains to be seen if these get readded by the developers in future updates.

For now, users who rely on disc functionality and some other features that are not supported in version 8.0 may want to keep on using the older version 7.1.6 instead.

Source

The new version is available from the developer site. Users of the application may select About > Check for updates in the application interface to run the check for updates.

Our first review of TeraCopy dates back to 2007. The program may replace the default Windows file copy dialog with an advanced version. Windows' own file copy functionality is limited. It can break on errors, lacks reporting, has no verification feature, and does not support queuing.

TeraCopy supports error recovery, the skipping of files, file verifications, batch operations, reporting, the copying of locked files and a lot more.

TeraCopy 3.9.7

The latest version of TeraCopy is available as a free and commercial version. The free version supports the majority of features, except for editing file lists, managing favorite folders, and exporting. It can't be used in commercial environments as well, but is not limited otherwise.

The official changelog is available here on the company blog. TeraCopy may now run PowerShell scripts after transfers complete. The app ships with two PowerShell scripts, which may be run after transfers complete. The first ejects drives, the second enables notifications via IFTTT.

Users of the app may remember that PowerShell support was added to TeraCopy 3.2.7 initially back in 2017. The system appears better integrated, but it is still possible to run custom scripts by placing them into the scripts folder of the installation; this folder is found under C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\TeraCopy\Scripts.

The scripts may be selected by switching to the options tab in the file copy window and activating them there.

TeraCopy 3.9.7 includes three additional features. You may now activate the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Home to jump to the current file that is being processed by the application. The program will also detect hashes in the Clipboard automatically to show it during verification.

Last but not least, the estimation algorithm has been improved for "very long transfers" according to the changelog.

TeraCopy may be used after it has been installed, but the default file copy dialog may also be used instead. The new release is a smaller release, but still useful to some users of the app.

Now You: do you use the default Windows file copy dialog, or a third-party app?

Source

“There are a lot of benefits to Xfce 4.18, including dual pane capability in thunar, updates to the Xfce applets, panel, and terminal, and options to have Xfce apps use the older Xfwm window theming instead of gtk3-client-side-decorations,”, the MX Linux team said.

Those who want to try to out the new Xfce update early, preferably on a spare machine, can enable the “temp” development repository. To do this, open /etc/apt/sources.list.d with elevated privileges and add deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ temp main to the file. Close the file and run sudo apt update and sudo apt dist-upgrade. This should upgrade your Xfce desktop to the new version.

As MX Linux uses Xfce by default and the 4.18 update is major, the MX Linux team has also decided that it’ll spin new ISOs when the update is released in January. This will be nice for users who were planning to install MX Linux as it will come with previous updates already rolled into the ISO so users will spend less time doing post-install updates.

If Xfce is not for you, MX Linux also has KDE and Fluxbox editions. Just head over to the download page and choose whichever one you want; most people will be good with MX-21.2.1_x64, though. The aim of MX Linux is to combine elegance, efficiency, stability, and solid performance. It is based on Debian Stable so its base is rock solid.

MX Linux set to receive Xfce 4.18 update sometime in January

Here is the full test system:

• Intel Core i9-13900K
• 2x 16GB DDR5-6000 CL36
• AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
• AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
• Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
• Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 22621
• Ubuntu 22.10 (Linux kernel version 6.2-rc1)

Here is the list of games and benchmarks used in the test. Overall, it's a mix of new and old benchmarks and titles:

• Hitman 3
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Portal 2
• Quake II RTX
• Strange Brigade
• X-Plane 12
• GravityMark 1.72
• Unigine Heaven 4.0
• Unigine Superposition 1.0

As mentioned above, the performance gap between Ubuntu and Windows 11 is bigger on the newer AMD 7900 XTX card. In this case, the Windows 11 PC was around 11.1% faster than Linux. Meanwhile, on the 6800 XT PC, Microsoft's OS is roughly 6.27% better. This suggests that perhaps more driver work is needed on Linux side for the new RDNA 3 GPUs.

You can view the full test results on Phoronix's website.

Test shows you'd want Windows 11 over Ubuntu Linux in 2023 when gaming on AMD

Handbrake used to support older versions of the Windows operating system, but this changed with the release of Handbrake 1.5.1 in early 2022.

Handbrake 1.6 is a major new release that includes multiple improvements and changes. Noteworthy additions include support for new audio and video formats, revised presets for web publishing and filter updates.

Our first review of Handbrake dates back to 2007. Back then, I published a tutorial on converting DVDs with Handbrake.

Handbrake 1.6

Handbrake 1.6 introduces support for AV1 video encoding.  Users of the program may now convert existing media to the format using custom settings or new presets that the developers added. New and updated presets are also available for HEVC and the Web, which now features Creator, Email and Social presets. Support for VP8 presets was removed in the build. The developers note that the VP8 video encoder is deprecated and that it will be removed in a future build. The Theora decoded is deprecated as well and will also be removed in future builds.

Several new video encoders and updates to existing video decoders have found their way into the release:

• Added SVT-AV1 (software) and Intel QSV AV1 (hardware) video encoders
• Added VP9 10-bit encoder
• Added NVENC HEVC 10-bit encoder
• Added VCN HEVC 10-bit encoder
• Added H.264 levels 6, 6.1, and 6.2 for the x264 encoder
• Added H.264/H.265 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 profiles for the x264 and x265 encoders
• Added H.265 4:2:2 profile for VideoToolbox encoder on Apple Silicon
• Added support for Intel Deep Link Hyper Encode (leverage multiple QSV media engines to increase performance)
• Fixed longstanding issue where slowest NVENC encoder preset caused encoding failures
• Removed support for Intel CPUs older than 6th generation (Skylake) when using Intel Quick Sync Video

These changes add more capabilities to the video encoder. Support for levels 6, 6.1 and 6.2 for H.264 that extend resolution and frame rate limits support.  Level 6.2, for example, adds support for 8k resolution at 120 fps.

Several filters were updated or added in the release. You can check out the full list on the official GitHub repository, but most users of the application may not require information about individual library updates.

The Linux version has reached parity with the Mac and Windows graphical interfaces, and several quality of life improvements were added in the release. Mac and Windows changes are mostly bug fixes and translation improvements. Mac users may use Quick Look in the queue now, though.

Source

Frontpaged: HandBrake 1.6.0

Waze is one of the preferred navigation apps for many due to its live community-driven traffic incident information — but what if the app warned you where a crash could likely occur? A new beta version of the Google-owned app, as reported by Israeli tech news site Geektime, can alert users about roads that have statistically high crash occurrences based on Waze community data.

While using this new beta version of Waze, nearby roads deemed to be high-risk are colored red on the map. Although, Geektime points out that it may not do this for roads that the user often travels on. The feature also only pushes just one pop-up notification about the dangerous roads around the driver, perhaps in an effort to keep precaution from turning into anxiety.

The notification for the new History of crashes feature at launch of the new beta Waze app. Screenshot by Geektime

If you’re in the country and have access to the beta release, you’ll get a pop-up that states: “using reports from drivers and your route, you may see alerts for ‘History of crashes’ on some roads.” While the feature is only in beta, it’s likely to release to the general public soon. But if you would rather not have Waze paint the roads red when it comes out, the feature can be turned off with a toggle located under the app’s settings section designated for alerts.

It’s one of the first new features to come out of Waze since the company was rolled into the group that oversees Google Maps. Google announced that merger earlier this month, and now with Waze under Google Geo, Waze’s head of PR Caroline Bourdeau told The Verge, “the teams will benefit from further increased technical collaboration.” The change also included Waze CEO Neha Parikh exiting, all at the same time as Google looks to cut costs company-wide. Ideally, now that Waze is sharing more closely with Maps, more collaborative user data could be crunched and become new features in the future.

Source

Adjust the size of the Taskbar in Windows 11

Typically, the Taskbar in Windows 11 rests as a single row at the bottom of your desktop screen and accommodates icons to provide you quick access to your frequently used apps. However, if the icons are so small that they go virtually unnoticed, you can change their size.

Please note that the method requires you to make changes to the Registry Editor. If you edit the registry incorrectly, serious problems might occur that could require a complete reinstall of the operating system and result in data loss. Create a backup first and then proceed carefully!

1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following path:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

2. Switch to the right pane and look for a value called TaskbarSi. If it cannot be found, create a new one. For this, right-click the Advanced folder, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name that value as TaskbarSi.

3. Double-click the TaskbarSi entry. Then, in the Edit String box that appears, enter 2 in the Value data text box and hit the OK button.

4. Restart your PC to allow the changes to take effect. You sho.

5. Similarly, if you would like to shrink the size of the Taskbar, change the Value data in the box from 2 to 0.

6. To return the Taskbar back to its default state, edit the value in the Edit String box again and this time keep it as 1.

The registry hack appears useful as currently, there's no other direct way to adjust the Taskbar size in Windows 11 through the Settings app. So, if you consider this customization as an essential feature of Windows and don't mind modifying the Registry a bit, try this workaround. It lets you change the size of the Taskbar interface to small, medium, or large.

Source

According to Zac Bowden from Windows Central, the next feature drop for Windows 11 should arrive in February or March 2023. We already know what features "moment 2" will bring (including a bunch of controversial changes). Moreover, some of those features are already available in the stable version of Windows 11 22H2.

The "moment 2" update will bring the resurrected tablet mode, a much-improved notification area (system tray), improvements for Windows Search, a better Task Manager, a new page for managing energy efficiency, full-screen widgets, and more. All those changes will continue Microsoft's efforts to address major criticism from users and make Windows 11 more modern and aesthetically pleasing.

Speaking of being more modern, expect the first feature update of 2023 to deliver a bunch of redesigns for some old dialogs from the Windows 8 era. Windows 11 preview builds already feature new eye candy for the date/time picker, rename this PC, reset, Windows Firewall, and go back to the previous build UI.

As for the "moment 3" update, users can expect it somewhere in the middle of the year, as reported a few weeks ago. The release is likely to arrive in May or June 2023. We do not know what features to expect, but the rumors say Microsoft will continue improving Windows Search, plus deliver a series of updates for dual-screen devices. The software giant should also replace the stock Mail and Calendar apps with the new web-based Outlook client.

Finally, "moment 4" should come out in September or October 2024. The report says that the "moment 4" update could be Windows 11 23H2. Unlike Windows 11 22H2 and its extensive list of new features, Windows 11 23H2 will be a smaller release with a slightly less impressive set of new capabilities.

To recap, here is what Microsoft allegedly has in store for Windows 11 in 2023:

• Windows 11 22H2 "moment 2" in February or May 2023
• Windows 11 22H2 "moment 3" in May or June 2023
• Windows 11 "23H2" or "moment 4" in September or October 2023

As usual, keep in mind that the report is unconfirmed, so take it with a grain of salt.

Microsoft reportedly preparing three feature updates for Windows 11 in 2023

Backing up files to OneDrive, or any other online storage solution, sounds like a good idea on first glance. You create a remote backup of important files and gain access to these files from any other device that you have access to and sign-in to OneDrive.

Even better, it is quite easy to set up and have it run on autopilot from that moment on. To access the feature, left-click on the OneDrive app icon on the Windows taskbar and select the cogwheel icon and then Settings.

When the Settings open, select the very first entry on the page. It is named Back up important PC folders to OneDrive. The Manage folder back up page opens.

OneDrive lists the three root folders Desktop, Documents and Pictures. All three are selected by default and the space they occupy on the hard drive is displayed. Below that, OneDrive lists how much online storage space would remain after the folders have been backed up to the storage solution.

A click on Start Backup begins the backup; it may take a while to complete, depending on the number of files in the folders and the Internet speed.

Here is why backing up entire folders to OneDrive is not a good idea:

1. This is an all or nothing approach. See the 24 Gigabytes of files in the Documents folder on the screenshot above? There is no option to deselect subfolders or individual documents to bring down the storage requirements, speed up the process, or prevent certain data from being uploaded to OneDrive.
2. Many users may need to purchase extra storage to even start the backup. New OneDrive users get just a few gigabytes of storage space by default.
3. Media is scanned by OneDrive to detect nudity and images that may be illegal. Microsoft may ban the entire user account if a single item is flagged by automatic scans.
4. The data is not encrypted in a way that only the user has access to it.

In closing, most Windows users may want to avoid using the back up feature. It is easy enough to select individual files or entire folders for uploading to OneDrive, if that is desired. Third-party tools like Cryptomator may increase the security of files uploaded, as they get encrypted properly before uploads. (Boxcryptor, another popular service, was acquired by Dropbox recently and started to shut down)

Now You: do you back up files to online services?

Should you back up important Windows folders to OneDrive?

WingetUI, which is a third-party GUI utility tool for managing CLI package managers like Winget or Scoop, has received its latest update today. The new update, version 1.5.2, fixes blurry textures on Windows 10, and improves task manager context menu positioning on Windows 11. Aside from these, there are several other improvements and bug fixes like those related to .NET, PNG files, and more. You can view the changelog for WingetUI 1.5.2 below:

General Changelog:

• Improvements in the settings page:
  • Utilities regarding winget shouldn't enable scoop anymore
  • Reorganized the headers
  • Added a submenu for experimental features
• Added a section to view, add and remove scoop buckets
• Added a new screenshot viewer on the info window
• Improved general keyboard navigation
• Improved blurry textures on Windows 10 systems
• Fixed issues with scoop custom buckets
• Fixed some issues regarding global scoop installations
• Improved taskbar context menu positioning on Windows 11 systems
• Added the update date and the release notes on the information window
• The number of installed packages will vary when uninstalling an app
• Fixed an issue where the window would drift across app restarts
• Fixed an issue where winget wouldn't detect wingetui
• Improved dialogs, fixing an issue where the user couldn't interact with them
• Fixed issues with application info parsing on botw winget and scoop
• Optimized PNG files, thanks to @panther7
• Fixed issues with .NET runtimes and with MSVC++2010 (thanks microsoft for messing up IDs and adding double spaces on them)
• Improved scoop installer, thanks to @panther7
• Fixed broken select/unselect all on the updates and the installed section
• Fixed loading loops when no package menagers were enabled
• Fixed misidentified packages
• WingetUI now detects Microsoft Store packages properly on the installed tab
• Added fluent context menus to even more areas of the UI
• migrated servers to www.marticliment.com, instead of the old www.somepythonthings.tk

You can download the latest WingetUI from GitHub where you can also view the detailed changelog.

WingetUI latest update gets improvements for Windows 11 as well as Windows 10, and more

Microsoft’s making Excel’s formulas even easier

Microsoft Edge is actually good