Is It a Bug? Or Is It a New Feature? I report. You Decide?
As was reported by Bleeping Computer, April 11, 2023, the latest Windows April monthly update "fixed 1 zero-day, 97 flaws," in the Windows 11 Operating System. As we all know, Zero-day exploits are very bad, as they are near impossible for security software to detect and defend against. Conversely, patching a Zero-day is a very good thing, indeed. Reducing all Windows users' attack surface.
Microsoft has periodically released several new "Feature updates." Sometimes these features get installed and enabled by a regular update; sometimes these features come with a periodic Feature Update. There is not a set timetable for these New Features to be installed, as they are rolled out at different times to different users. Each update has, or will soon, bring these new features to the OS.
The trouble with New Features is that if the New Feature is not something you want, then it will seem more like a bug than a feature. Yes, you old timers may hear echoes of that old joke from Y2K now turned on its head. The old joke goes like this. If you can't fix the bug in your programming, then simply call that bug a feature. Now, those crazy old Gnomes of Redmond have turned that old one liner on its head. If you don't want a new feature, then you have a bug — or so it will seem.
One of these new and potentially annoying Windows Feature is all the eye candy that now appears in the Search Box. On April 2, 2023, I offered suggestions on how to take control of that New Feature, and turn it off if you wanted to. In this post, we look at more Windows bugs — or features. You can decide for yourself: Is it a Bug? or Is it a Feature?
1. Changes to the Start Menu.
Much is being made about "Advertising" coming to the Start Menu screen. While third party advertising is not now planned, Microsoft may now prompt you with notifications about other Microsoft products or services you may or may not want.
Microsoft does, however, make it relatively easy to turn off almost all notifications. Finding these switches is often a challenge, however.
In this instance, we click the...
1. Settings Gear Icon from Start Menu.
2. Click Personalization.
3. Click Start.
4. Turn off,
"Show Recommendations," by moving the slider to the left.
Back to Top.
As regular readers know, I am a huge fan of the Microsoft Snipping Tool. The Snipping Tool has for me opened up countless ways for visual expression.
Microsoft apparently agrees whole heartedly with my positive assessment of the Snipping Tool. So much so that now when you hit the Print Screen key from the keyboard, the Snipping Tool opens up instead of just taking a simple screen dump.
This is annoying to me.
A screen dump is like a quick sketch or a snapshot. I generally don't know exactly how I will end up using the screen image I have captured on the fly using Print Screen. My preference is to paste the screen dumped image into MS Paint; and then save that as a jpeg for later use. This new MS bug — well, at least to me — is a real annoyance. And, if that sounds annoying to you, too, then read on.
In this instance, we click the...
1. Settings Gear Icon from Start.
2. Click Accessibility
3. Click Keyboard
4. Turn off, "Use the Print Screen key to open Snipping Tool," by moving the slider to the left.
Back to Top.
There are a few settings in File Explorer that are worth taking a look
at. These are indeed useful features.
From here you can turn on hidden items like file extensions that tell you what app made any one file.
The feature I find very useful here is "Show full path in title bar." Some applications still like to default to the OneDrive folder.
To ensure I am always using Documents
folder, I enabled this
feature.
In this
instance, we click the...
1. Settings Gear Icon from Start.
2. Click Privacy & Security
3. Click For Developers
4. Show full
path was not enabled by default.
5. I did enable the feature by
moving the slider to the right.
After enabled, you can toggle this feature by
Right clicking on the Windows
Icon in the status bar in File Explorer. Useful possible
uses for the full path are displayed.
Right
click into the Status Bar, and the full path of the folder will be
highlighted.
This is very helpful when managing
many files in many different folders.
Devil or angel, I can't make up my mind
Which one you are
I'd
like to wake up and find
— Devil or Angel, Bobby Vee, (Composer Blanche Carter)