PCWorld August 2023

Windows Copilot is one part Bing, one part Windows. It’s a ChatGPT artificial intelligence assistant that can perform tasks for you one moment, but then pleads ignorance the next. Microsoft’s AI assistant within Windows 11 certainly has potential, but during my time with it, achieving a consistent experience was one of its unexpected challenges. Windows Copilot, the migration of Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing Chat into Windows, debuted in late June as part of the latest Windows Insider build for the Dev Channel. Microsoft announced Copilot at the end of May, with a promise to bring it into testing by the end of June. It hasn’t reached its full potential yet, but it will see a full release later this year. To experience Copilot, you’ll need to sign up for the Windows Insider…

With Twitter seemingly imploding in a new, spectacular way on a weekly basis, Meta has moved in with its own Twitter clone, Threads. The app for the new social media platform is now live for both Android and iOS. Threads looks much like Twitter. Very much. You get to type 500 characters per post (versus 280 characters for Twitter), but your “thread” is aligned in a vertical hierarchy of posts, just as in Twitter, and the user interface feels right at home. Naturally, you have the option of replying to and liking individual posts following others and responding to their own threads, too. And, of course, you can post photos. Threads leverages your Instagram followers—which is important, because there are at least a few other apps named Threads on the…

Google has made major improvements to how passwords are stored inside Chrome, taking some of its best features from its mobile browser and applying them to the desktop. There has always been some tension between the browser and password managers in terms of which app holds the keys to your digital life. Google already offers to store your passwords within the Google cloud, offering features such as trolling the deep web to ensure they haven’t been leaked in a breach. Recently Google and Chrome have added some new key features: a quick shortcut to your passwords from the desktop, the ability to import passwords stored elsewhere, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to use biometric identification to unlock your password vault on the desktop browser. You’ll also be able to add…

It comes down to this: Microsoft is killing off its superior Mail and Calendar apps because it believes its brain is smarter than yours. One of my few stressful moments during an otherwise peaceful Hawaii vacation was when I learned Microsoft is doing away with the Mail and Calendar apps. I’ve been an unabashed fan of Mail for years because it does what I want it to do, and nothing else. Mail has a simple, clean, pure interface. But now Microsoft plans to replace Mail and Calendar with the unified Outlook app interface, beginning next year. Current Mail and Calendar users can test-run the new interface by toggling the “try the new Outlook” toggle in Outlook’s upper-right corner, which flips the interface to the new look. You can then flip back…

At long last, parents and guardians can now get better insight into their teens’ social media—at least for Messenger and Instagram. Meta has launched a set of Parental Supervision tools to better aid with controlling usage of both apps. In Meta’s post announcing the new features, the company outlined several ways for parents to track and understand their kids’ habits on Messenger. For starters, you’ll now be able to see how much time a teen spends on Messenger. You can also see their contact list, privacy and safety settings, who can view their Messenger stories, and who can message them (for instance, friends, friends of friends, or nobody), as well as get notifications when changes to those settings occur. If a teen allows, you’ll get alerts if they report someone,…

Is nothing working on your Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer? Is an application hanging, or is your PC completely unresponsive? Most people will reach for the hallowed Ctrl + Alt + Del keyboard shortcut, which has been used since the earliest days of DOS to revive a stuck computer. You can also use the shortcut to call up the task manager (although Ctrl + Shift + Esc is faster at that). What many people probably aren’t aware of, however, is the emergency restart function Microsoft hid inside the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen. I personally didn’t know about it either until I read this article from BetaNews. HOW TO ACTIVATE THE HIDDEN WINDOWS EMERGENCY RESTART To get to the hidden emergency restart function, first press Ctrl + Alt…