Microsoft Office 2013 was a popular productivity suite that included several essential tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It was released in 2013 and was widely used by individuals, businesses, and organizations of all sizes. However, like all software products, Microsoft Office 2013 has reached its end of life, and users are now advised to upgrade to Microsoft 365, the cloud-based version of Microsoft Office.

What Does End of Support Mean?

End of life, or EOL, refers to the point in time when a software product is no longer supported by the manufacturer. In the case of Microsoft Office 2013, this means that Microsoft will no longer provide technical support, bug fixes, security updates, or new features for this product. This makes the software more vulnerable to cyberattacks, viruses, and malware. Continuing to use Microsoft Office 2013 after the end of life date could result in data loss, security breaches, and other serious problems.

• This means that Microsoft will no longer provide any updates or support for this software product beyond this date. Users who continue to use Microsoft Office 2013 after this date do so at their own risk.

If you’re using Office 2013, it’s probably a good time to upgrade your version of Microsoft Office.

Upgrade Options

The best way to protect yourself and your organization is to upgrade to a newer version of Office:

• Cloud upgrade: Subscriptions to Microsoft 365
• Box Version: Microsoft Home And Business 2021

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is an all-in-one cloud solution with a number of different licensing options to fit your organization’s needs. The best part about cloud-based applications is that you no longer have to worry about retirements, patches, and end of support. Cloud licenses are automatically updated with new features, new applications, and security updates. Many cloud subscriptions also include installed (or desktop) versions of the application, so you can have the same look and feel of the Office applications you are accustomed to using, but built with more robust features and benefits.

Microsoft Home And Business 2021

Office Home and Business 2021 is for families and small businesses who want classic Office apps and email. It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook for Windows 11 and Windows 10. A one-time purchase installed on 1 PC or Mac for use at home or work.

 

If you have any questions, please email us at support@sjtechies.com or call us at (856) 745-9990.

The popular Microsoft Office 2010 is reaching end of support in a few months. To avoid security risks, it’s time to upgrade to a newer version of Office. The good news is that you have options.

What Does End of Support Mean?

Microsoft Office 2010 has been a popular version of the application over the last decade. The unfortunate news is that support for it ends this fall — on October 13, 2020, to be exact. All of your Office 2010 apps will continue to function. However, using an unsupported version of any software exposes your computer to serious and potentially harmful security risks. Microsoft will no longer provide technical support, bug fixes, or security fixes for Office 2010 vulnerabilities that may be subsequently reported or discovered. This includes security updates that help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

• You’ll no longer receive Office 2010 software updates from Microsoft Update.
• You’ll no longer receive phone or chat technical support.
• No further updates to support content will be provided, and most online help content will be retired.
• Another difficulty you may face is incompatibility with some of the newer programs and file formats.

If you’re using Office 2010, it’s probably a good time to upgrade your version of Microsoft Office.

Upgrade Options

The best way to protect yourself and your organization is to upgrade to a newer version of Office:

• Cloud upgrade: Subscriptions to Microsoft 365
• On-premises upgrade: Office Standard 2019

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is an all-in-one cloud solution with a number of different licensing options to fit your organization’s needs. The best part about cloud-based applications is that you no longer have to worry about retirements, patches, and end of support. Cloud licenses are automatically updated with new features, new applications, and security updates. Many cloud subscriptions also include installed (or desktop) versions of the application, so you can have the same look and feel of the Office applications you are accustomed to using, but built with more robust features and benefits.

Microsoft Office Standard 2019

Microsoft Office Standard 2019 is the latest version of the on-premises version of the office suite and is a good option for you if you are not ready for the cloud version at this time. This version of Office includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Publisher.

If you have any questions, please email us at support@sjtechies.com or call us at (856) 745-9990.

Imagine you are a customer of Microsoft’s Office 365 service, including a subscription to the Office desktop applications like Word, Excel and Outlook.

One day you click on the shortcut for Word, but instead of opening, it just shows a “Starting” splash screen which never progresses.

Being smart, you try to start Word in safe mode by holding down the Ctrl key, but the exact same thing happens.

Annoying, when you want to do your work. What is going on?

We took a look at a case like this. Two things you should do (after the usual reboot):

1. Look in the event viewer. Here, we found a clue that the issue is related to software activation, specifically Event 2011 “Office Subscription Licensing exception”:

2. For all things related to Office licensing, open a command prompt, go to (for example) C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16, and type:

cscript ospp.vbs /dstatus

In this case we got the following:

This told us that Windows thinks TWO product keys for Office are installed. One has expired, the other is fine.

The guilty party may (or may not) be the trial version of Office typically pre-installed with a new PC. Or it could be a consequence of changing your Office 365 subscription. Neither would be the fault of the user, who is fully licensed and has done nothing other than follow Microsoft’s normal procedures for installing Office 365.

Solution: we reinstalled Office from the Office 365 portal, and attempted to remove the dud product key with:

cscript ospp.vbs /unpkey:<Last five characters of product key>

as explained here. All is well for the moment.

Activation and subscription license checking is for the benefit of the vendor, not the user, and should never get in the way like this.

Further, cannot Microsoft find some way of informing the user when this happens, and not have Word simply hang on starting? How difficult is it to check for licensing and activation issues, and throw up a message?

Dictate with your voice in Office

Applies To: Word for Office 365 Word 2016 Outlook 2016 PowerPoint 2016

Dictate in Outlook

1) Turn on your microphone and make sure it works. Troubleshoot microphone settings

2) Open a new email message and select Message > Dictate.

3) Wait for the icon to turn red.

4) Start talking. As you talk, text appears in your email message.

5) Speak clearly and conversationally. Insert punctuation, by saying the name of the punctuation mark you want to add.

6) If you make a mistake while dictating, move your cursor to the mistake and fix it with your keyboard. No need to turn off the microphone.

7) When finished, select Dictate again to stop typing.

Troubleshooting

I don’t see Dictate, or it’s not working

If Dictate isn’t working, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.

You can enable or disable Dictate by going to File > Options and look for Office intelligent services on the General tab.

Important information about Dictate

Dictate is one of the Office Intelligent Services, bringing the power of the cloud to Office apps to help save you time and produce better results.

Your speech utterances will be sent to Microsoft to provide you with this service, and may also be used to improve speech recognition services. For more information see, What are Intelligent Services?

Office Dictate is not HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant.

New features make Office and OneDrive the best place to work on iPad and iPhone

More and more, people around the world are working on the go, changing locations and devices as they create and collaborate with others throughout their day. As they work across their PCs, Macs and mobile devices, they expect an uncompromising experience that is familiar yet optimized for the device they are using.

Microsoft is committed to providing best in class experiences on all devices, and today, we are proud to share with you a set of new Office capabilities across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive on iOS that will delight and make iPad and iPhone users more productive than ever before.

Real-time co-authoring in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS – We live in a world where we’re often collaborating with multiple people in different locations and Office 365 provides the broadest and deepest toolkit for collaboration between individuals, teams, and entire organizations. Using real-time co-authoring, colleagues, friends, and family can contribute to and edit documents simultaneously in the Word, Excel and PowerPoint iOS apps. This allows you to know who else is working with you in a document, see where they’re working, and view changes automatically within seconds. The co-authoring experiences are also available in Office Online and the latest versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the PC and Mac, all made possible by storing your documents in OneDrive or SharePoint.

Drag and drop files anywhere with OneDrive – Sometimes your files can get scattered between different folders or even services and applications. Now it’s easier than ever to organize and rearrange your files. You can drag files in between folders in OneDrive and, if your teammates use SharePoint to work together, you can even drag OneDrive files to a SharePoint site giving them immediate access. On iPad, you can also drag files from other apps, such as iMessage, into your OneDrive and drag files out of your OneDrive to other apps.

Drag and drop content between Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive on iPad – One of the most common and powerful tasks when creating content is pulling in text, photos, graphs, and other objects from different sources. Now you can pull in content with ease on your iPad with drag and drop support in Office and OneDrive. Easily drag and drop objects from OneDrive or from one Office app to another.

OneDrive Files app support – Today we’re also announcing native support for the Files app in iOS 11. OneDrive integration with the Files app allows you to access, upload, edit, and save your content to OneDrive or SharePoint from apps that support Files app integration. You can also tag and favorite your OneDrive and SharePoint files from within the Files app.

OneDrive redesigned to find the files that matter – The OneDrive iOS app has been redesigned from the ground up with a new layout that uses your screen space more efficiently allowing you to find your files faster. It’s easier to scan across file names, see the information that matters to you, and sort files how you want. New metadata is visible in the list view, so you can easily identify new files and files that have been shared.

Universal link support for shared files – Being able to seamlessly share and securely access files is essential for teamwork. Previously when you received a link to a shared file, you would be directed to a browser and prompted to re-authenticate. Today, we are announcing universal link support, which will open the document directly in the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint iOS apps. Further, if you don’t have a supporting application for the file, you’ll be directed to the OneDrive app to preview the file.

Preview 130+ file types in your OneDrive app – You and the people you work with use a variety of different file formats, but when you’re on your mobile device you might not have access to the native applications for those files. Now, the OneDrive iOS app creates crisp thumbnails and supports large previews of over 130 file types, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, RAW, 3D objects, and high-precision DICOM images. OneDrive lets you open, view, and share all of your files without leaving the app.

New accessibility features for Word, Excel and PowerPoint on iOS 11
The VoiceOver rotor in iOS improves navigation and the accessibility of content. For example, you can use the built-in rotor on iOS to navigate line-by-line or word-by-word and change the speed at which VoiceOver speaks. The new Office-specific rotors also let people with vision impairments navigate more efficiently in Word across tables and links, slides in PowerPoint, and sheets in Excel.

Users can also leverage larger text options in accessibility settings to modify the text size in the core Office apps. Visit the support pages for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint to learn more.

You can use take advantage of these new capabilities in the coming days by updating the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive apps in the Apple App Store.

The problems stems from June 2017 security updates. Microsoft is investigating the issues and will update this page when a fix is available. In the meantime, please use the workarounds suggested for each issue. They have categorized it in seven scenarios.

Issue#1: Error when opening an attachment is an email, contact, or task formatted as Rich Text.

This issue affects Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.

When you open an attachment in an email, contact, or task formatted as Rich Text you get the following error:

You may also see:

STATUS: WORKAROUND

• Forward the email to yourself and then open the attachments from the forwarded email.
• Change the email format to HTML, or Text format.
• Save the attachments to your computer, using one of the following methods, then open them from the saved location: Drag and drop the attachments to your desktop.
  Go to File > Save Attachments.
  Copy and paste the attachment to your computer.

Issue#2: Opening Mail Attachment warning when opening an attachment that includes consecutive periods

This issue affects Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, and Outlook 2016.

When opening an attachment that includes consecutive periods (…), or an exclamation point (!), the files are blocked and you receive an Opening Mail Attachment warning.

Or if an email message includes an attached email message, and the attached email message’s subject line ends with an unsafe file name extension as listed in the Blocked attachments in Outlook, the email attachment will be blocked for recipients.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

If you get the Opening Mail Attachment warning, and you’re sure the attachment was sent from a trusted source, proceed to Open or Save the attachment.

If the file is blocked because of a potentially unsafe file extension, ask the sender to save the email message to their computer and rename its subject line so that it does not end with an unsafe file name extension. Then, attach it to the email message and resend.

Issue#3: Error when setting ShowLevel1Attach to allow Outlook to display Level 1 attachments

This issue affects Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016.

If you set ShowLevel1Attach to allow Outlook to display Level 1 attachments, you may see the error: “One or more objects in this file have been disabled due to your policy settings”.

WARNING: Typically, Level 1 attachments are blocked. If you have enabled this policy, users can see Level 1 attachments in Outlook. If you use any of the workarounds to open the files, please make sure they are safe to open. See: Information for administrators about e-mail security settings in Outlook 2007.

If you set ShowLevel1Attach to allow Outlook to display Level 1 attachments, and you send an email with an attachment you may see this message: “This item contains attachments that are potentially unsafe.  Recipients using Microsoft Outlook may not be able to open these attachments.”

STATUS: WORKAROUND

• Change the email format to HTML, or Text format.
• Save the attachments to your computer, using one of the following methods, then open them from the saved location:
  • Drag and drop the attachments to your desktop.
  • Go to File > Save Attachments.
  • Copy and paste the attachment to your computer.

Issue#4: VBScript does not run or you receive malicious code warning when using a custom form for Outlook

This issue affects Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, and Outlook 2016.

When you use a custom form that you have created for Outlook, you see the following two symptoms:

• VBScript does not run.
• You get a malicious code warning: 

STATUS: INVESTIGATING

We’re investigating this issue and will update this page when a fix is available.

Issue#5: “Something went wrong….” or “Search results may be incomplete” error when searching in Outlook

This issue affects all Outlook versions on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.

When searching in Outlook, you get this error: “Something went wrong and your search couldn’t be completed.”, or “Search results may be incomplete because items are still being indexed“.

And you’ll see this Event Log warning:

STATUS: WORKAROUND

Until the Windows Update fix release on 6/27, you can set a registry key that will cause Outlook to stop using the local Windows Search service. When this registry key is set, Outlook will use its own built-in search engine. The built-in search will display the message below to indicate it is not using the Windows Search service.

Disable Windows Desktop Search Service for Outlook:

• Open Registry Editor.
• Go to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
• PreventIndexingOutlook
• Set DWORD: 1

Detailed Instructions:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click New Key and name the key Windows Search.
4. Click on the new key Windows Search.
5. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type PreventIndexingOutlook for the name of the DWORD, and then press Enter.
7. Right-click PreventIndexingOutlook, and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1 to enable the registry entry, and then click OK.
9. Note to disable the PreventIndexingOutlook setting, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.
10. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart Outlook.

Issue#6: iCloud fails to load properly in Outlook 2007

iCloud fails to load properly in Outlook 2007.

When accessing Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks in Outlook 2007, you get the following error:

The set of folders cannot be opened. MAPI was unable to load the information service C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\Apple\Internet Services\APLZOD.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and configured.”

STATUS: WORKAROUND

The loading of unregistered MAPI services has been disabled by default to make Outlook more secure.

If you have trusted applications that depend on being loaded in this manner, you can re-enable those applications by setting the following registry key:

REG_DWORD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security\AllowUnregisteredMapiServices

You can use the following registry subkey to apply the registry setting as a domain policy:

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security\AllowUnregisteredMapiServices

Value 0 (default): Block loading of unregistered MAPI services. This is the recommended setting to avoid unexpected execution of unknown code.

Value 1: Enable loading of unregistered MAPI services.

To make these registry changes, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following subkey in the registry:HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security\
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type AllowUnregisteredMapiServices for the name of the DWORD, and then press Enter.
5. Right-click AllowUnregisteredMapiServices, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1 to enable the registry entry, and then click OK.

   NOTE: To disable the AllowUnregisteredMapiServices setting, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.

7. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Vulnerability information (applies to all versions)

MAPI does not validate that a provider’s DLL that it is requested to load is registered correctly in MapiSVC.inf or even that it comes from the local machine. This can be exploited by creating a file together with an OLE object in such a way to cause MAPI to load a DLL from a network share when the OLE object is activated. This can allow arbitrary code execution to occur.

Issue#7: When printing a specific iframe or frame in a web page, the print output may be blank, or text is printed with a 404

This issue affects all Outlook versions on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.

When you print a specific iframe or frame in a web page, the print output may be blank, or text is printed that resembles the following:

This problem has also been observed in both Internet Explorer 11, and in applications that host the IE Web Browser Control.

STATUS: INVESTIGATING

There is currently no workaround for this issue. However, if you print the entire web page, it will print correctly. We’re investigating this issue and will update this page when a fix is available.

Option: Uninstall Recent Microsoft Update

It is not recommended to uninstall the update as it applies to some other issues but if none of the workarounds help then you have this option until a new fix is releases.

For Outlook 2010:

1. Go to the Control Panel – Programs and features and select view installed updates on the left.
2. Search or look for KB3203467 and highlight it and uninstall it.

For Outlook 2007:

1. Go to the Control Panel – Programs and features and select view installed updates on the left.
2. Search or look for KB3191898 and highlight it and uninstall it.

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2016 was a very good year for Microsoft in terms of decision making. Here is a  list of five things the company got right.

Since its inception way back in the ancient epoch known as the 1970s, Microsoft has often been ridiculed for making mistakes. Whether it was for bad business strategies, poor products, or unscrupulous practices, Microsoft seemed to bring out the passionate ire in many people.

But what often gets overlooked is what Microsoft does right each year. And by just about any measurement, 2016 was a remarkable year for the company. Under the leadership of Satya Nadella, Microsoft has changed its business strategy to reflect what it describes as a mobile-first, cloud-first business world. And in 2016, that strategy began show results.

Here, in no particular order, are five things Microsoft got right in 2016.

1. Windows 10 Anniversary Update

To mark the one-year anniversary of Windows 10, Microsoft released a large patch it dubbed the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Okay, so Microsoft is not very clever in naming things. But the patch itself was well received. It included new security measures, new program features, Microsoft Edge browser extensions, and advanced support for digital pens, among many other enhancements. If you were already using Windows 10, the Anniversary Update was a must.

2. Surface Studio

While not its primary business, Microsoft has been developing some noteworthy pieces of hardware the past few years and in 2016, the company generated a large amount of buzz with the release of the Surface Studio. This elegant computer combines the best of the desktop, laptop, and tablet to create a unique and innovative platform perfect for artists, designers, and other creative people. With data visualization becoming ever more important, Microsoft may have invented the perfect tool for the big data generation.

3. Microsoft Office 365

I have been wondering aloud if it is a bit too much, but there can be no doubt that with the dozens of program and feature updates released in 2016, Microsoft Office 365 is the alpha and omega of productivity software. Rather than trying to name all of the new features, it would be best to concentrate on the underlying theme: collaboration. Whether it is Yammer, Skype for Business, or the intelligent cloud, Microsoft is concentrating on features necessary for success in a collaborative environment.

4. LinkedIn

In 2016, Microsoft made several acquisitions of both companies and their technologies. Perhaps the most high-profile of these acquisitions was LinkedIn. Despite all of its efforts to create a collaboration platform with Office 365, the one thing Microsoft needed was a social networking component. LinkedIn gives the company a jump start toward establishing a social networking presence that can compete with the likes of Twitter and Facebook. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft does with this acquisition.

5. IoT, AI, and machine learning

While we may live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world right now, the future may very well revolve around the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and machine learning. To its credit, Microsoft sees the potential of these technologies and has taken steps to get ahead of the curve. In terms of recent history, getting ahead of the curve is not something Microsoft has done very well, so it is difficult to know where the research will lead, but it should prove to be worth watching closely.

Despite what some people may tell you, Microsoft does do some things right. In fact, for the most part, the company does more things right than it does wrong. In 2016, Microsoft did many things right and consumers and businesses have been the beneficiaries. Let’s hope Microsoft can continue the trend in 2017.

Have questions?

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The deadline for a free Windows 10 upgrade is right around the corner. Find out what happens after the offer expires.

Don’t look now, but July 29, 2016, is coming up fast. That is the one-year anniversary of the release of Windows 10, which means the ability to upgrade to the new operating system for FREE will soon expire. (If you are interested, you can take a look at the official countdown here.)

In a January 21, 2015, Windows Experience blog post titled The next generation of Windows: Windows 10, we learned that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade. Author Terry Myerson said:

Today was a monumental day for us on the Windows team because we shared our desire to redefine the relationship we have with you—our customers. We announced that a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 who upgrade in the first year after launch.

A little over six months later, on July 28, 2015, Myerson penned another Windows Experience blog post, titled Windows 10 Free Upgrade Available in 190 Countries Today, in which he reiterated the free upgrade policy:

From the beginning, Windows 10 has been unique—built with feedback from five million Windows Insiders, delivered as a service with ongoing innovations and security updates, and offered as a free upgrade to genuine Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 customers.

If you’ve been reading articles by Woody Leonhard or Paul Thurrott in recent months, you know that Microsoft has been upping its game with the Get Windows 10, or GWX, program it built into Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. It really wants every Windows user everywhere to be running Windows 10.

Any holdouts—Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 users who have been sticking to their guns so far—have only a few more weeks to go before losing their chance to get Windows 10 for free.

In a recent Windows Experience blog post titled Windows 10 Now on 300 Million Active Devices – Free Upgrade Offer to End Soon, Yusuf Mehdi, the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group, said:

…we want to remind you that if you haven’t taken advantage of the free upgrade offer, now is the time. The free upgrade offer to Windows 10 was a first for Microsoft, helping people upgrade faster than ever before. And time is running out. The free upgrade offer will end on July 29 and we want to make sure you don’t miss out. After July 29th, you’ll be able to continue to get Windows 10 on a new device, or purchase a full version of Windows 10 Home for $119.

What will Windows 10 cost after July 29?

As Mehdi pointed out in his post, you will be able to purchase a full version of Windows 10 Home for $119.

But how much will Windows 10 Pro cost?

Well, if you head over to the Microsoft Store right now, you’ll find that you can purchase both Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro as a download or on a USB flash drive. Windows 10 Pro will cost you $199.99. And moving past the July 29 deadline for the free upgrade, it’s a pretty safe bet that prices will remain the same—especially since they’re the same price points that the full versions of Windows 8.1 Home and Pro sold for when that operating system was new.

Will there be upgrade versions of Windows 10 after July 29?

Since Microsoft provided free upgrades for a full year, I wonder if there will be upgrade packages for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users who decide to upgrade to Windows 10 after July 29. I suppose that it’s possible, but then again, maybe not. When Microsoft introduced Windows 8.1 packages, it offered only the full versions—there were no upgrade versions of Windows 8.1. With that in mind, it’s easy to speculate that this may also be the case with Windows 10.

Have questions?

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The Windows 10 jump lists feature offers a convenient way to start your apps–but there’s no easy way to increase the size of the list. Here’s a hack for that.

Microsoft Windows 10 gives users several choices when it comes to how and where to start their applications. Some people use the desktop exclusively and some swear by the Start Menu, while others, prefer the pinned lists that hang off the icons on the Taskbar.

However, there is one small problem with the Taskbar pinned list in Windows 10—by default, there is a 12-slot limit.

Windows 7 allowed users to extend that number with a simple change to a configuration setting. But that feature is currently missing in Windows 10 for reasons no one has been able to explain. The workaround involves editing the Windows Registry file.

Standard disclaimer: Incorrectly editing the Windows Registry file could break your computer. Create a Restore Point before making any changes.

Jump listItems

Figure A shows an example of the default jump list hanging off the Word icon in a typical Windows 10 Taskbar. Note that there are 26 copies of the example file, but only 12 are listed in the pinned section. This is despite the fact that I have actually pinned them all, which is why the Recent section is fully populated.

Figure A

To increase the number of pinned items displayed, we’ll have to change the maximum number of jump list items associated with a particular key in the Windows Registry file.

Press Windows key + R or right-click the Start Menu icon and navigate to the Run command to open the Run prompt (Figure B). Type regedit into the box and click OK.

Figure B

Navigate to this set of keys in the Windows Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Look through the list in the right-hand pane until you find this DWORD: JumpListItems_Maximum

In case, the JumpListItems_Maximum DWORD is not there, create it.

Right-click the JumpListItems_Maximum DWORD and select Modify. Click the Decimal radio button and change the number to a value that works for you. As you can see in (Figure C).

Figure C

To complete the change, you may need to restart your computer. You should now be able to see the number of pinned items you specified (Figure D).

Figure D

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Microsoft has changed the look of the Start menu in Windows 10.

The revamped Start menu is due to be added to Windows 10 this summer, as part of a major update coined the ‘Windows 10 Anniversary Edition’.

Microsoft revealed the updated appearance in an early build of the OS, which it released to testers in the Windows 10 Insider program on Friday.

The new look Start menu makes the ‘All Apps’ list visible by default on the left-hand side. In another new addition, a selection of the user’s ‘Most-used’ apps are shown at the top of this permanently visible ‘All Apps’ list. Microsoft says the change should reduce the clicking and scrolling needed to access apps.

The Power, Settings and File Explorer icons are also always visible in the left rail of the Start menu and the ‘Recently added’ section will display three entries, instead of one. Any folders that users have added to the Start menu are now immediately accessible without having to click the hamburger icon.

The old look start menu

The new look start menu

The look of the Start menu in tablet mode has also been overhauled, turning the ‘All Apps’ list into a fullscreen menu, reminiscent of the Windows 8.1 Start screen. Gabe Aul, VP for Microsoft’s engineering systems team, says the switch to fullscreen was a ‘top request from Windows Insiders’, adding that ‘the grid-like implementation of the full-screen ‘All Apps’ list aims to provide efficiency while taking advantage of the additional real estate on the Start screen on a tablet’.

The old look ‘All Apps’ list in tablet mode.

The new look ‘All Apps’ list in tablet mode.

The final Start menu change is designed to make it easier to toggle between pinned tiles and the ‘All Apps’ list, by providing the option to do so in the menu’s left rail.

More helpful Cortana and other changes

The latest Windows Insider build, 14328, also includes a raft of features that will be available to all users following the Anniversary Update.

These new components include Windows Ink, which allows users to more easily write notes on touchscreen PCs and tablets using a digital pen. The addition of Windows Ink to Windows 10 allows users to write on digital sticky notes, draw on digital whiteboards and annotate content in a variety of apps, including Maps, Microsoft Edge, and Office. Microsoft wants support for drawing and writing using a digital pen to be present in many Windows 10 apps and says that adding support for Windows Ink only requires developers to write two lines of code.

Windows 10’s digital assistant Cortana has also been tweaked. Users will no longer have to log into Windows to use Cortana and instead will be able to use voice commands to get Cortana to make notes, play music or set a reminder from the lock screen.

Cortana can now also be used to set photo reminders, for example the user could take a picture of a cheese they want to buy next time they’re in a store, and add reminders based on content from another Windows 10 app, for example telling a user to read an article they flagged as interesting in the Edge browser. Cortana is now also accessible to all users, with Windows 10 no longer requiring users to sign-in before they can ask simple questions of the digital assistant.

Other changes include the ability to search files on OneDrive cloud storage that aren’t synced locally, tweaks to the look of and what is displayed in the Action Center and via notifications, various changes to the Taskbar — including easier access to the calendar and the removal of the File Explorer icon, as well as updates to the Settings app and lock screen.

As this is an early build of Windows 10, some of these features may change before reaching the general public, based on feedback from testers in the Windows Insider program.

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