Newsletter Archives

• Using Office apps with non-Microsoft cloud services

  Posted on April 7, 2025 at 02:45 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.14 • 2025-04-07

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  OneDrive and SharePoint aren’t the only cloud storage options available. There are others that will work inside modern Office apps, some with far superior security and privacy capabilities.

  Anyone who has read my past articles will know that I’m no convert to Microsoft’s “everything in the cloud” zeal. Cloud storage has uses for some documents and situations but not necessarily for everything, despite Microsoft insistence.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.14.0, 2025-04-07).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft 365 Box, Dropbox, Newsletters, Office, OneDrive, ProtonDrive, SharePoint

• I installed Windows 11 24H2

  Posted on April 7, 2025 at 02:44 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Will Fastie

  24H2 has been running on my laptop for some time so I can check things as required by my editorial duties. Last week, I decided that 24H2 needed to be under my fingers all the time, so I updated my daily driver, Obsidian.

  It went pretty well. I did break one of Susan’s rules; the result was at least a doubling of the time the update should have taken because I had to manually fix an unexpected problem.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.14.0, 2025-04-07).

  Windows 11 Drivers, File Explorer, Graphics Cards, Newsletters, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2

• NotifyIcons — Put that System tray to work!

  Posted on April 7, 2025 at 02:43 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  The Windows System tray (or status notification area) tells us when our Internet is down, when our printer is out of ink, and provides countless other alerts.

  Windows and other programs install NotifyIcons to our System trays to accomplish this.

  During our morning coffee sipping/software hunt the other day, we came across two pretty neat utilities, Icon Meter and Temperature Icon Meter.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.14.0, 2025-04-07).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Icon Meter, Newsletters, PixiEditor, Temperature Icon Meter

• Decisions to be made before moving to Windows 11

  Posted on April 7, 2025 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  TAME YOUR TECH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I’ve been promising a step-by-step guide to help you migrate to Windows 11 as neatly and safely as possible. This isn’t it.

  I’m planning that for May, assuming the stress from tax season has dissipated and I can return fully to the Zen of Windows.

  This column is about the decisions you must make before you make the leap to Windows 11. After all, when you buy a new toaster you usually make sure it suits your needs.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.14.0, 2025-04-07).

  Tame Your Tech AI, LibreOffice, Microsoft Account, Microsoft Account Bypass, Migration, Newsletters, OpenShell, Patch Lady Posts, Start11, Thunderbird, Windows 11, WordPerfect Office

• Reviewing your licensing options

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.13 • 2025-03-31

  TAME YOUR TECH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Can you get a license for that?

  With the upcoming end of life of Windows 10, I’m often asked why I’m not recommending that you look for and install the long-term servicing channel (LTSC) version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.

  LTSC is a version of Windows 10 that was designed for devices that require minimal changes over time. It is primarily used in environments where stability and consistency are crucial, such as medical devices or industrial machinery. It is not available to the public and can be purchased only through volume licensing. It’s a platform that is intentionally not bloated, and it comes with fewer pre-installed apps, such as Microsoft Store, Cortana, and Edge (until the 2021 version). While it gets regular security updates, it does not get feature releases.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Tame Your Tech Adobe, Autopilot, Business Software Alliance, Intune, Licensing, LTSC, Microsoft, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Software, Windows 11

• Apple has been analyzing your photos since September 2024

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Apple silently turned on a feature in its new iPhone iOS 18, macOS 15, and other operating systems that sends a version of every photo in your collection to a central server for “evaluation” — with no publicity about the feature and without asking device users to opt into the process. It’s simply enabled.

  The Cupertino corporation released iOS 18 and macOS 15 (code-named Sequoia) on September 16, 2024. When I say the photo-analysis feature was “silently turned on,” I mean there’s no mention of Apple’s Enhanced Visual Search (EVS) in the company’s official What’s new in iOS 18 Web page. There’s a passing reference to using Apple Intelligence, the iPhone’s “smart assistant,” to search for photos in iOS 18.1 (released on October 28, 2024). But there’s been none of the promotional talk you’d expect for such an important change as EVS.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Public Defender Apple, Enhanced Visual Search, iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, Newsletters

• What Windows 11 24H2 offers beyond bugs

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:43 CDT by Lance Whitney • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  If you can get past the persistent glitches, the 2024 flavor of Windows 11 does have some interesting and helpful new features.

  I’d long resisted updating my main laptop to Windows 11 24H2. Though I’d been running this version on a couple of virtual machines, I didn’t want to put one of my core PCs through the ringer. And that’s because Windows 24H2 had been plagued by bugs almost since its official release last October.

  Most major Windows updates are beset with glitches here and there. Before an official rollout of a new version, Microsoft strives to find as many flaws as possible through internal reviews and beta testing. But with so many different Windows PCs and environments in the world, finding every single problem or conflict is difficult — if not impossible.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Windows 11 Camera, File Explorer, Newsletters, Sudo for Windows, Voice Clarity, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi 7, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2, Windows Narrator, Windows Spotlight

• Making sense of Settings in Windows 11

  Posted on March 31, 2025 at 02:42 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  Settings is surely here to stay, but so are all Windows’ other settings tools.

  Each new build of Windows 11 moves more functionality into Settings. It’s a slow process, and one I’m sure most of us would like to be faster.

  When you consider the amount of legacy code in Windows and the ongoing need to ensure as much backward compatibility as possible, however, those delays make more sense. Changes are more seamless for users in the Insider Program, with new updates coming with every build.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.13.0, 2025-03-31).

  Windows 11 Control Panel, Newsletters, Settings, Windows 11 Settings
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