WINDOWS 10 UPDATE SHAMBLES
What you MUST do before (and after) installing it
Cut and paste from one PC to another
You can now store multiple items in your clipboard and sync these across all your computers. To do this, go to Settings, System, then select Clipboard from the list on the left. Switch on ‘Clipboard history’ (see screenshot below) to store up to 25 items that you’ve cut (Ctrl+x) or copied (Ctrl+c) in your clipboard. You can still paste the last item using Ctrl+v, but pressing Windows+v brings up your new clipboard-history window. Annoyingly you can’t navigate the list using your keyboard, only your mouse.
Switch on ‘Sync across devices’ (also see screenshot) in the Clipboard settings and your clipboard history will be shared across all your computers. You’ll need to be signed into your other PCS using the same Microsoft account, and each one needs to have the October Update installed with the ‘Sync across devices’ option enabled as above. It won’t sync with phones, but Microsoft says this feature is coming soon. VERDICT A useful feature, but it needs to sync with phones, not just Windows computers RATING ★★★★ Access your phone from your PC Your Phone is a new Windows tool that links your smartphone to your PC. At the moment it’s primarily for Android (on iphones it only lets you browse a website then continue where you left off on your PC). Setup can be a bit fiddly.
You need to launch the Your Phone app in Windows, enter your mobile-phone number, then install the Your Phone Companion app on your phone (you’ll receive a link to this via a text message). After signing into your Windows account on the phone app and granting permissions, your PC and phone will link.
Once set up, you’ll probably wonder why you bothered. We managed to send text messages using Your Phone, but it didn’t display our message history as promised. And although we received new messages on our phone after linking it, these weren’t displayed within Your Phone on our PC. Microsoft provides troubleshooting tips at www.snipca. com/29355, but they didn’t help us.
It also lets you view the last 25 photos – though not videos – taken on your phone and then save them to your PC. But you’re far better off syncing with Google Photos, which includes many additional features such as displaying all photos, creating automatic slideshows and sharing photos.
We hope there’s more to come from the Your Phone app because, in its present form, it’s very limited. VERDICT Limited usefulness and a work in progress RATING ★ See search-result previews Microsoft has added a preview window to the Search tool on the taskbar. Although it doesn’t preview documents, it will display their location and the last modified date. We like the thumbnails that appear when searching for images, as well as the ability to select from recently opened files when searching for a program, but Windows Search is still hit and miss. In our experience, we can’t rely on it always finding what we’re looking for. VERDICT A useful addition to Search, but it doesn’t preview documents – yet RATING ★★★ Take better screenshots Snip & Sketch will eventually replace Snipping Tool, but the two coexist for now. Although it looks different, the features are broadly similar. It does however give you more highlighter colours (blue, green, orange, pink and purple, to go with Snipping Tool’s
yellow), along with a ruler and protractor. We like the new method of being able to choose the capture mode after clicking New (the screen dims and shows the Rectangle, Freeform and Full Screen capture options - see screenshot above). However, the lack of a ‘window capture’ mode (available in Snipping Tool) is surprising. VERDICT Easier to switch between modes, but lacks a ‘Window capture’ mode RATING ★★★
Monitor power usage
Curious about which programs are eating into your laptop’s battery life? The Processes tab in Task Manager (Ctrl+shift+ Escape) now displays both current power usage and usage over time for each running program, helping you identify energy hogs more effectively. However, you won’t see precise measurements, only High, Moderate and Low status. VERDICT A good start, but the powerusage stats should be more precise RATING ★★★
Increase text size
Previously, you could only enlarge text by either 125 or 150 per cent. Now more control is provided by a slider, while the maximum size has increased to 225 per cent. It doesn’t enlarge all text (ribbon menus in programs are exempt), and at the maximum size some text gets chopped off (see ‘Settings’ in screenshot above), but if you’re struggling to read what’s on your screen it’ll be a welcome addition. Go to Settings, ‘Ease of Access’, Display, then use the ‘Make text bigger’ slider to adjust the text size (see screenshot above).
The Magnifier tool (Settings, ‘Ease of Access’, Magnifier) has also been updated, letting you choose to have your cursor at the centre of your screen when zoomed in, which makes it easier to navigate. You can also fine-tune the
magnification level using five-per-cent increments. VERDICT Solid improvement to existing features, but larger text can get clipped RATING ★★★
Block autoplay clips and read easier in Edge
You can now choose to stop audio and video from automatically playing in Edge. Click the Menu button (three dots) at the top right, Settings, then Advanced. Under ‘Media autoplay’, select Block.
Edge’s reading view, which strips out surplus content on websites and makes them easier to read, now lets you darken areas of a web page that don’t interest you (see screenshot below). When in reading view (press Ctrl+shift+r), click the page to reveal the ‘Learning tools’ menu, then click ‘Reading preferences’ and turn ‘Line focus’ on. VERDICT Minor enhancements that are unlikely to make people switch to Edge RATING ★★★