Maybe you own a Mac. Maybe you own a Windows computer. There's about a 98% chance that you use one or the other if you own a computer and no matter how discoverable or user friendly the developers make their operating systems, it's still a good idea to see what features you might have missed. So this week we'll look at both operating systems.
The impetus for this report was a question from a friend in California. He noted that opening a document in Microsoft Word sometimes displayed an option to resume work at the location that was active when the document was closed. Is there a way to make that dialog always appear, he wondered, and to make it hang around long enough to be useful. My recommendation was to ignore the button and memorize a keystroke combination: Shift + F5 should always take you back to the last place you were in the document if you press those keys immediately after the document opens.
Tricks like that make any operating system easier to use, so that's what we'll look at this week.
OK, Microsoft, I get it. You say Edge is the better browser and you want me to use it for everything that a browser can do. But look, guys, I like Firefox and Chrome. Yeah, I know that Edge has some advantages, but I'd like to use Edge only when I explicitly select it.
If that's your opinion, too, open Settings and type "default" in the "Find a setting" field. Then select "Default app setting". Find Web Browser in the list and change the selection to your preferred browser. While you're there, you can also set the default applications for email links, map links, music files, photo files, and video files.
When you're finished there, scroll down a bit further and click "Choose default apps by file type." Depending on how many types of files are on your computer, it may be a while before the dialog box displays anything. Eventually you'll see a list of file extensions and default apps that are associated with each extension. On my computer, the list starts at .001 and ends with .ztr. To eliminate Edge as the default application for various file types, scroll through the list and change any default application from Edge to your preferred application for that file type.
Yes, there should be a way to sort this list by default application, but there isn't.
The Desktop, Task Bar, and Start Menu are all places where you can store links to your most frequently used programs. It doesn't matter which you use, but having a quick way to the applications you use the most is helpful.
If you use the Start Menu, tiles can be resized and moved. You can create new groups and pin applications to them.
Organizing icons on the Desktop is another option, but using icons that are there requires minimizing or moving applications that are open and then double-clicking the icon. I generally use the Desktop for ad hoc files that I'm working on temporarily and for applications that I'm evaluating.
My preference for organizing apps is the Task Bar. You can choose large or small icons, place the at the bottom of the screen (the default), on the left or right side, or at the top. It's also possible to hide or show labels and to increase the Task Bar so that it has more than one line of icons. I use small icons without labels and set the bar to be 2 rows tall. This allows me to place about 75 of the applications I use most often where I can open them with a single click.
Similar to positioning the applications you use most often, you can add your most used files and folders to a section called Quick Access in the Windows File Explorer.
The more files and directories you have, the more useful Quick Access is. My primary computer has several hard drives in addition to the one for the operating system -- one primarily for data, digital images, and website development; another for websites, graphics, and publishing files; one for media files and application downloads; another for music; a scratch disk that's used by video and audio applications; and one called miscellaneous that's full of -- well -- miscellaneous items.
I visit some of these directories frequently, so I've added them to the Quick Access section of the File Explorer. The directories are on different disk drives and some of them are several levels deep in the directory structure.
The mouse is a clever invention, but it's inefficient for menus. The more you can keep your hands on the keyboard, the faster you'll get things done. Computers crash a lot less than they used to and I no longer save documents at the end of every new paragraph, but I do save frequently. I have a couple of options: Take my right hand off the keyboard, find the mouse, move the cursor to the top of the window, click the File menu, click save, then put my right hand back on the keyboard. Or press Control + S with my left hand.
Both Windows and the MacOS make it easy for users to keep their hands on the keyboard by providing dozens of keyboard shortcuts. Here are some of my favorites. I'll start with the 3 everybody knows.
| Control + X|C|V | X cuts selected item, C copies selected item, V pastes previously cut or copied item. |
| WinKey + Tab | Opens TaskView. |
| WinKey + Control + D | Create a new virtual desktop and switch to it. |
| WinKey + Control + F4 | Close the current virtual desktop. |
| WinKey + Control + Left|Right arrow | Move to the previous|next virtual desktop. |
| WinKey + A | Open the Action Center. |
| WinKey + B | Open the Notification Area. |
| WinKey + C | Wake Cortana (if you have enabled Cortana). |
| WinKey + D | Show|hide all applications on the Desktop. |
| WinKey + Alt + D | Display the calendar and time. |
There are more than 150 keyboard shortcuts for Windows 10 computers. Probably nobody needs all of them, but almost everybody can find a few that will make everyday tasks just a bit faster and easier. Microsoft has the complete list on its website.
Linux and MacOS users have had the ability to create virtual desktops for a while and the feature is now available in Windows 10 without using a third-party application. If you're the kind of person who uses a computer for dissimilar types of tasks, this could be just what you need.
To create a new virtual desktop use Task View (WinKey + Tab) and click "New desktop." After you've created a desktop, you'll see it listed at the top of the Task View. You can delete a virtual desktop if you no longer need it, but it will retain its definition following a reboot if you don't.
When you've set up one or more virtual desktops, you can switch among them via Task View or just press WinKey + Control + the left or right arrow key.
There are some tricks to making this work. If you switch to the new virtual desktop and open an application, it will open on that desktop and stay there. The visual feedback is misleading: The Task Bar icons on the new desktop will all appear to be inactive, but clicking an icon for an application that's active on another desktop will return you to that desktop. So, for example, if you have Excel open on one desktop and Word open on the other and then try to open Excel while you're on the desktop with Word, Windows will automatically switch to the desktop where Excel is already open.
Using the Task View, you can move an open application from one desktop to another, so if you need Excel to be on the desktop with Word, just move it there.
The operation sounds clunky and may seem like it would take a lot of time, but it can save time and reduce clutter. The concept is still a new one for Windows and the developers will need to do more work on it before it has the capabilities found in Linux or the MacOS.
The MacOS Finder is exactly like the Windows File Explorer, except that it's completely different.
For reasons known only to Apple, a disk drive icon isn't on the Desktop by default. If you'd like to have a disk drive icon, open Finder and choose Preferences. On the General tab, make sure that hard disks and external disks are both selected.
While you're there, click the Sidebar tab and choose the items that you'd like to see when the Sidebar is visible. The advanced tab has an option to show file name extensions, but it's turned off by default. If you routinely share files with Windows users, turning this on can be helpful because Windows systems depend on the file extension to identify which application should open it.
I also turn on "Keep folders on top when sorting by name" because it makes sense to me to have all of the folders together rather than having them mixed in with the files.
Adding files and folders to the Favorites section at the top of the Sidebar serves the same purpose as adding files to Quick Access in the Windows Explorer. To add a file or folder, click and drag it into the Favorites section. When a blue line appears, position it where you want the file or folder to be and drop it. If you decide later that you don't want it to be in the list any more, right-click and choose Remove from Sidebar.
The Status Bar is turned off by default and this deprives you of useful information about files and folders. The status bar shows the number of files you have selected, their total size, and the amount of space remaining on the drive. To turn this on, open the Finder and choose View > Show Status Bar. You'll find several other options in this menu, so turning them on or off will let you decide whether you want to see them normally.
Apple's Spotlight is a search function, but it does a lot more than find things. To open Spotlight, press Command + space bar from any application
Spotlight shows suggestions from the web, Itunes, the App Store, and nearby movie show times using your approximate location. Areas searched can be modified in System Preferences. In addition to being able to find files on your computer, Spotlight also can perform basic math functions and currency conversion.
Large, high-resolution screens sometimes make finding the mouse's location a bit difficult. On Windows machines, users can find the mouse by pressing the Control key. If you ever lose the cursor on a Mac, just shake the mouse and the mouse cursor will become larger for a moment.
It seems like there should be a control to set how long the mouse cursor retains its large size, but I can't find one. A better choice might be to have the mouse change color or, as with Windows, display concentric circles. I sometimes have to shake the mouse several times before I spot the mouse.
It's not uncommon to have the window you're working in on top of a window that you're using for reference. Then you need to move the background window so that you can read something the foreground window is covering. Poof! The background window is now active and in front of the window you really want.
The next time you need to do this, remember to press the Command key before clicking the window's border. You'll be able to move it around, but the window won't be given focus and it will remain behind the window you're working in.
MacOS computer users have lots of keyboard shortcuts, too. The full list is about the same size as what Windows users have, so don't try to memorize them all. Instead, find a few that help with tasks you perform frequently. As with Windows, I'll start with the three everybody knows.
| Command + X|C|V | X cuts selected item, C copies selected item, V pastes previously cut or copied item. |
| Command + Option + W | Without the Option key, you'll close the current window, but adding Option closes all active windows. |
| Command + Tab | Opens the application switcher. |
| Command + ~ (tilde) | Pages through all active applications. |
| Command + Option + Escape | Roughly equivalent to Control + Alt + Delete on a Windows computer, this opens the Force Quit dialog. |
| Command + Shift + A|U|D|H | A opens the Applications folder, U takes you to utilities, D will display the Desktop folder, and H displays the Home folder. |
You'll find a full list on Apple's website.
The MacOS's virtual desktop capabilities are considerably more robust than those found in Windows, but the same usage notes apply: If you switch between dissimilar uses, an extra virtual desktop or two can save time and reduce clutter.
Virtual desktops on the MacOS are a function of Mission Control. Get there by pressing F3 on a standard Mac keyboard or use Control + Up if you have a non-Mac keyboard attached. As with Windows, applications opened on one virtual desktop stay there by default; unlike Windows, though, the MacOS doesn't mislead you with a bunch of icons that appear to be inactive.
As with Windows, MacOS users can move an application from one virtual desktop to another. Switching between desktops without going through Mission Control is easy with Control + Left or Right arrow keys.
If you want an application to always be associated with a specific desktop, you can pin it there; but you can also specify that you want the application to be present on all desktops. If you choose that option and you have multiple screens, you'll probably find that the second screen will be assigned as a new desktop.
There's considerably more to this feature on the MacOS and it's a good feature to explore when time is available.
We have to give crooks credit for devising new techniques to fool people. One that I've seen quite a bit recently uses publicly available information from domain registrars in an attempt to convince website owners that there's a problem with their site.
You'll receive an email that appears to come from your hosting company. BlueHost is one of the largest hosting companies and a lot of their clients are receiving these phony messages.
The message (1) refers to a domain you recognize and is sent (2) to your address. The body of the message addresses you (3) by a name that is publicly accessible via your domain registrar. It then says that (4) your account is in violation of a host policy or has exceeded usage limits and then refers you to a poisoned link that displays (5) the BlueHost domain name, which is what they hope you’ll see.
The only domain name that matters is (6) the last one. This is the site that will answer when someone clicks the link. Everything in front of that domain name refers to a sub-domain. Everything after the domain name refers to a directory.
The (7) additional contact information at the bottom of the message is valid and is included to make the message appear to be legitimate.
Clicking the link will display what looks like a BlueHost login page. Those who use it to log in will have their credentials stolen by the crooks, who will then be able to set up a new sub-domain on their site and use it for illegitimate and illegal purposes.
The crooks may be clever, but the messages are obvious scams. Because the target domain is shown in plain text, it's immediately clear that it doesn't go to BlueHost, but to another domain that has been compromised -- probably because the site owner fell for a similar scam and handed over the site's login credentials.
Another variant seeks to hide the target domain by displaying only text such as "click here" or a partial domain name and then hiding the poisoned link. It's easy to spot these, too: Just hover the mouse cursor over the suspect link, right-click the link, copy it, and then paste it into a word processor or text editor.
The "payment due" spams continue unabated, too. You'll receive a serious looking message that says your account is about to be canceled unless you hand over some amount of money ($84 in this case) to renew. It implies that this is a domain payment (hinting at domain registration), but it's only an "offer" to list your site on search engines. These offers are worthless even in those rare instances in which the person who receives the money actually does something.
Note the tiny text in light gray at the bottom of the message. Here's what it says:
"You have received this message because you elected to receive special notification offers." This is a lie and the remainder of the message is, at best, misleading. The company making the offer (whoisaboveblue.top) is registered to Mavis Cox at Xiang Zou Qu Cui Xiang Jie Dao 3518 in Zhu Hai, Guangdong, China.
These "offers" sometimes come by mail and sometimes by email or phone. Anyone who still has a fax machine probably receives them there, too. Regardless of how they arrive, they're scams if they're not from your domain registrar or your domain host.
The current edition of The Atlantic includes an article by Quinn Norton about the persistent and worsening dangers of email. Email is the most common vector for malware and has been for years. Until recently, we thought that email could be safe if certain kinds of safeguards were in place.
Norton's story recounts a discovery by researchers in Europe, a discovery that reveals two security and encryption protocols we depend can be defeated by an exploit the researchers have named "Efail".
It can be used to render OpenPGP and S/MIME ineffective. I have worked with OpenPGP and it's not the kind of protocol that average users (or even above average users) can master. Corporate IT departments use it to protect data during transmission. The same can be said for S/MIME.
The article is a reminder that email's problems exist because the protocol is from a different, simpler time: When email protocols were developed, ARPANet was a closed system. There were few users and most of the users had security clearances. The network was secure, so the protocol didn't have to be.
Things have changed a bit since then.
Norton puts it this way: "Email’s privacy model was always based on courtesy: We wouldn’t look at the messages crossing the network that weren’t for us because that would be rude. It would be even more rude to change them, though system administrators did regularly insert strange messages or modify messages as pranks, or to get their users’ attention. Emails from God or Santa Claus were not unheard of."
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) was one of the first attempts to create secure, encrypted email, but using it is far beyond the capabilities of most users. Norton's article notes that in the mid-1990s the MIME protocol was invented. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions allowed text-based email to do more -- formatted text, images, attachments were all added. To handle all of those features, email clients had to start acting like web browsers, and that's exactly what Efail exploits.
Here's Norton again, explaining how even encrypted email can now be problematic: "An email client running OpenPGP or S/MIME decrypts messages when it receives them, and since the clients are also web browsers, they fetch things from the web for displaying them to you in the email you open at the same time. So what if you happened to open an email, which decrypts whatever message it may have inside, even a hidden one, while the same email also tells your email client to fetch an image off the web whose name is now the entire contents of a message it just decrypted? It would just do it, invisibly, sending the now easily readable message anywhere on the net without you ever knowing it happened."
As bad as that is, it's getting worse. Norton's article in the Atlantic is well worth reading and you'll find it on the magazine's website.
