Microsoft has announced the second-generation Microsoft Surface Headphones, an upgraded model that comes with improvements within the key areas.

The first-generation Surface Headphones were launched within the fall of 2018, so the new model comes approximately twelve months and a half after the software giant entered into this side from the hardware market.

The top Headphones help push the top brand past the PC market, and while accessories aren't necessarily the best-selling products for the software giant, they help us complete the Surface lineup.

The second-generation Headphones come with improved noise control, so that they now feature 13 different levels of active noise cancellation.

Microsoft says it has specifically focused on increasing the life of the battery, so you should now acquire some 20 hours of listening for every charge.

"Surface Headphones 2 are designed to slip comfortably over your ears and surround you with spectacular sound quality, including 13 amounts of ambient noise control. We improved quality of sound and life of the battery, bringing you as much as 20 hours of clear sound. Our active noise cancellation is adjustable through intuitive on-ear dials and specifically tuned either to stop or amplify human voices," Microsoft explains.

One of the biggest changeS with this generation may be the refined ear cup design, which provides more comfort while using the headphones and wearing them around the neck. This really is clearly welcome since you no longer have to take away the Surface Headphones whenever you move about for a short time.

"We updated the ear cup design to rotate 180 degrees for greater comfort when wearing around your neck," Microsoft explains.

This new generation is provided having a black finish in addition to the light gray version which was already available on the very first model. This will make total sense since the Surface Headphones are offered as companions to the Surface PCs, which are also offered in light gray and matte black versions.

The tech specs haven't changed too much aside from the improvements mentioned above, which means you still get a complete charge in some 2 hours and control the amount using the right dial and noise cancelation using the left one.

The Surface Headphone 2 still use Windows 10, iOS, Android, and macOS, as it just connects to the device wirelessly using Bluetooth. This is really something that's extremely important given Microsoft no longer has its mobile platform and restricting the top Headphones to the Windows ecosystem wouldn't make much sense.

Like the first generation, the new model allows users to answer calls and talk with your contacts using the dual mics that are supposed to provide what Microsoft calls "exception call clarity."

"Experience your music, shows, and calls like never before with spectacular Omnisonic sound and adjustable noise cancellation. Listen all day with soft, lightweight and comfy ear pads. Use touch, tap or voice to skip tracks, answer and end calls, and get hands-free assistance. Your music even pauses whenever you remove Surface Headphones 2 and resumes whenever you place them back on," Microsoft says.

Voice dictation continue being available in Microsoft 365 for apps like Word and Excel, and thus is support for digital assistants, and that means you can interact with Siri and Google Assistant without even touching your cell phone.

The Surface Headphones 2 are for sale to just $249.99, and they are projected to begin shipping in the United States and Canada beginning with May 12. Of course, it'll arrive in all of those other markets within the coming months, and the black version particularly will probably be pretty successful in the most of markets.

A new version of Firefox is now readily available for download on all supported desktop platforms, and of course, there are many notable improvements within this release.

Firefox 76 finally introduces an expert password option that truly protects all of the passwords which are saved in the browser.

Quite simply, should you rely on Firefox to deal with your bank account passwords, now you can configure an expert password to protect your computer data. Jetski from others from accessing the data, that is obviously something that is super-useful on shared computers.

To setup an expert password in Firefox 76, all that you should do is launch the browser after which head over to the next path:

Firefox > Options > Security and privacy > Logins and Passwords > Make use of a master passwords

Once enabled, you'll be prompted to go in the master password any time you wish to view the passwords which are saved in your device.

Firefox also includes extra protections for users who are yet to configure a master password. On Windows and macOS, the browser automatically activates a verification that uses the OS authentication system before offering you access towards the stored passwords.

"You happen to be able to access and see your saved passwords under Logins and Passwords easily underneath the main menu. If your device happens to be shared among your loved ones or roommates, the latest update helps you to prevent casual snooping over your shoulder. Should you don't possess a master password set up for Firefox, Windows and macOS now needs a login for your operating-system account before showing your saved passwords," Mozilla explains.

On Windows 10, for example, if a master password is not configured, you are able to verify yourselves using the PIN code that you use to log in towards the operating-system. If Windows Hello is configured in your device, then the biometric authentication system works too.

Firefox also comes with alerts if this detects that one of your passwords has been involved in a website breach. Powered by Have I Been Pwned data, the alerts enable you to remain secure and alter your passwords as soon as a danger of exploit is detected.

"Firefox checks the date of the known website breach from the date you saved a password for your website. When the website was breached after you saved passwords, you'll check this out alert. The database of breached websites is supplied by Have I been Pwned," Mozilla explains.

Furthermore, the browser now includes extra password options that check whether vulnerable passwords are utilized to protect your accounts. This is again powered by the Lockwise password manager, also it requires you to save your passwords in Firefox. The company provides us with a closer inspection at just how everything works:

"Starting in Firefox version 76, Firefox will also determine if you've reused these potentially vulnerable passwords with other logins you've saved to Lockwise. The browser does this by creating an encrypted list of your breached passwords, then checking it against all saved passwords. Firefox does not keep logs of the plaintext passwords or know them."

Needless to say, each one of these options can be manually disabled make up the Logins and Passwords section in the options screen of the browser. However, given they assist you protect online accounts and prevent breaches, everyone is recommended to help keep the choices activated.

And of course, they are offered on all supported desktop platforms, as they're all bundled using the browser and do not depending on the operating system (aside from the aforementioned master password protection that needs OS authentication).

One of the features that macOS users seem to love on their device is the one that permits the automatic reopening of apps after a system reboot.

And it's no surprise why so many people like such capabilities, as they allow for everyone to resume the work they do without losing anything and recovering their session in a matter of seconds.

Lately, however, I've seen several Mac users who switched to Windows 10 only to discover that some features they previously used on Apple's platform are missing.

But while things might be different within the Windows world, there's next to nothing that macOS does and which Microsoft's operating-system doesn't. And If the feature you're looking for isn't offered at OS level, there's no need to panic since the app ecosystem here is gigantic.

One of the features these users happen to be looking for is the fact that automatic relaunch of apps following a system reboot.

As I said before, you can do this on Windows 10 too, also it all is dependant on a simple toggle. Learn here how to renable automatic reopening of apps on Windows 10 after reboot.

But on Windows 10, this selection also has a little extra, and you may configure the operating system to also relaunch the File Explorer windows that worked with before the reboot. File Explorer is the default file manager in Windows 10, and while it does lack some very popular features, including tab support, still it has the essential package that just serves its purpose suitable for the majority of users.

So in Windows, you are able to configure the operating system to reopen your File Explorer windows all by itself after rebooting the device, which obviously comes in super handy if file management is you do around the device.

However , this method isn't placed in a really straightforward location, so many users might have difficulty to find it. Microsoft should combine it with the Settings app where everything else is located, but for now, here's where you can find it.

The first thing you to need to do is open File Explorer and click the small arrow in the top right corner to grow the ribbon. Within the View tab, click the Options button to access the File Explorer configuration screen.

If you want to make use of a faster route, you can easily click the Start menu and kind "File Explorer options". Next be pointed to the very same screen - ought to be fact, the Start menu has evolved a great deal and it can provide you with shortcuts to so many paths on Windows 10 so long as you know what you're looking for.

Within this Folder Options screen, click the View tab then apply within the list for an option called:

Restore previous folder windows at logon

Enable it and that's pretty much all you have to do. Next time you reboot your device, File Explorer should save your valuable session and restore the active windows when you are getting to the desktop.

One thing that's worth knowing is this fact feature will come in all Windows 10 versions, therefore it doesn't matter if you use Home or Pro because it's there anywhere. Similar functionality has previously been offered in older Windows too, including in Windows 7, but combined with the new choices to automatically relaunch running app, it's obviously creating a lot more sense now in Windows 10.

If you don't like the extra step to log into your user account, you are able to remove the user account password in Windows. Listed here are the steps.

Windows encourages users to password protect user accounts. In fact, when you first produce a user account in Windows, you need to go through the password creation wizard. After that, you are even prompted to answer security inquiries to help you recover the consumer account if you forgot the password.

Generally, password protection is a really good thing. This is especially true for on-the-go laptop users or users who share the computer with other people. That being said, if you are the only real user from the system and confident that no-one can access it, using a password-protected user account is certainly not but one more unnecessary step to log into Windows. Taking out the user password can also be helpful for media PCs which are generally linked to TVs and accessed by all the members inherited.

Regardless of reason, if you do not want to use user account password protection, you are able to remove it completely. Follow the below steps to get rid of the consumer account password in Windows.

Note: If you work with Microsoft account to log into Windows 10, follow the first method. If you work with a nearby account then stick to the second method.

Remove User Password for Microsoft Account

If you are using an online account i.e, a Microsoft account to register for your Windows 10 machine, you cannot remove the user account password. This is because you are using your Microsoft password to log in.

However, you will get the next best thing. That is, you are able to bypass the Windows login screen altogether. When you configure the password bypass settings, Windows will automatically log you in.

Fortunately, you can also use this method with local user accounts. As you can tell, this process gives you the best of all possible worlds. i.e, you don't have to remove the password try not to need to enter it either.

Remove Local User Account Password

If you work with a nearby user account and want to completely remove the user account password instead of bypassing it, you can easily get it done in a couple of steps.

1. First, open the Settings app by looking it up in the Start menu. Once opened, visit the "Accounts ?¨² Sign-in Options" page.

2. You will notice a lot of authentication methods around the right page. Here, click the "Password" option and then click the "Change" button.

3. You will be prompted to go in the current password before you can change or take it off. So, go into the current password and then click the "Next" button.

4. After successful authentication, you'll be prompted for any new password. Leave all the blanks empty and then click the "Next" button.

Next, click on the "Finish" button. Since we did not set any password, you've successfully removed the password.

That is it. It's that easy to either bypass the Windows password or take it off entirely.

The best thing about the Microsoft store is that it makes installing and uninstall apps easy and clutter free. Additionally, all of the apps automatically update in the background so that you simply no longer need to cope with the individual update or upgrade prompts. Windows will take care of all that stuff in the background.

One thing that you cannot do with store apps is that you cannot create desktop shortcuts using drag and drop or the shortcut creation wizard. At the very least, it is not that obvious at first glance. However, using a little trick you can actually create store app shortcut in Windows 10. You are able to also use these shortcuts to add store apps to Windows 10 startup.

Allow me to show you how you can create desktop shortcut for any store app in Windows 10.

Desktop Shortcut for Store Apps

The trick to creating the desktop shortcut for store apps is to make use of the hidden Applications shell folder located in the Windows installation drive (C drive). Here's how.

1. First, we need to open the Applications shell folder. For that press Win + R, type shell:AppsFolder and click on the "Ok" button.

2. Within the Applications folder, you will see shortcuts for all the apps including your regular win32 applications and store apps.

3. To create a shortcut, simply find the application and drag and drop it in your desktop. To quickly find the app you are looking for, you are able to use the search bar appearing on the upper right corner from the File Explorer.

Done!

Alternative Method to Create Store App Shortcut

This method is much easier but it is not obvious at first glance.

1. To create a store app desktop shortcut, the target app should first be pinned to the start menu. If you don't possess the app pinned to the start menu, search for the app in the start menu, right-click on it and select the option "Pin to start"

2. Once it is pinned, simply drag and drop it around the desktop to produce the desktop shortcut.

That is it. It's that simple to produce a shortcut for any store app in Windows 10.

Assign Keyboard shortcut

After creating the shortcut of your favorite store app, you are able to assign any keyboard shortcut you would like for quick launch. To assign a keyboard shortcut, right-click on the shortcut and select "Properties"

In the Properties window, select "Shortcut Key" field and press the laptop keyboard shortcut you would like assign. In my case, I'm assigning the Shift + Alt + O to launch Onenote.

Click on the "Apply" and"Ok" button to save changes.

Hope that helps.

Microsoft is improving the Settings app with each release. Be it adding more options from Control Panel or adding fluent design, slowly but surely, the Settings is getting snappy and powerful. In an effort to clean up and streamline the user interface from the Settings app and other store apps, Microsoft chose to hide the scrollbars by default.

Even though the scrollbars are "hidden", you can still see the scroll bar like a thin line towards the right-hand side of the app. When hovered over the line with your mouse, you'll be able to see the particular scrollbar and use it to scroll up and down.

Hiding scrollbars make the apps look a bit nicer but at the cost of user experience. So, if you do not like the hidden scrollbars, you can make Windows 10 show scrollbars all the time by changing a single option within the settings app. Let me show you how you can always show scroll bars for Store apps in Windows 10.

Always Show Scrollbars in Windows 10

To turn off hidden scrollbars for store apps in Windows 10, we have to modify an option inside the Settings. But for whatever reason, the option is not that easy to find unless you know where to find it exactly. Nevertheless, it is easy to disable hidden scrollbars in Windows 10.

1. Open the Settings app by pressing keyboard shortcut "Windows Key + I".

2. Within the Settings app, go to "Ease of Access" and select "Display" option appearing around the left panel.

3. Around the right-panel, find "Automatically hide scroll bars in Windows" option and toggle the switch under it to "Off" position.

The change is instantaneous. As soon as you toggle the option to "Off", you will see the scrollbars appear within the Settings app and in all other Store apps, be it first-party Microsoft apps or third-party apps.

That's it.

Can't stand the internet installer for the Edge Chromium browser? Listed here are links to download Edge Chromium Offline installer for any operating system.

The advantage Chromium browser is generally available for just about all major os's for previous months now. Like the majority of browsers these days, when you download Edge Chromium in the Microsoft website, what you'll get is definitely an online installer. When execute the downloaded installer, it will then download the files required to install the Edge Chromium browser.

Generally, this isn't such a bad thing since you will always obtain the latest build and don't have to be worrying if you are using the most recent version. However, the internet installer isn't a good choice if you want to keep the software in your software repository, have not so good internet connection or do the installation on multiple computers. For instance, if you want to install Edge Chromium on multiple systems, installing individually on all systems is really a waste of data. If you have the Edge offline installer, you can simply copy the installer file towards the target machine and proceed using the full installation. No need to download it again.

So, if you're like me and do not like online or web installers, here's a way to download Edge Chromium offline installer directly from the Microsoft website.

Steps to Download Edge Chromium Offline Installer

Microsoft actually provides the offline installer. Generally, this offline installer is intended for developers and organizations. If you're wondering, most developers and organizations bulk install the software in multiple computers in an exceedingly locked-down environment. As a result, they require an offline installer. To satisfy this need, Microsoft offers the offline installer. It is simply that it is not too simple to find. That being said, just follow the steps below and you'll have the Edge Chromium offline installer in no time.

1. First, go to this site. This is actually the official Microsoft page that provides the download links for the offline installer.

2. When you are here, choose the drop-down options as shown below and click on the "Download" button.

Channel/Version → Select "Stable (current)"
Build → Pick the latest build (shown by higher number)
Platform → Choose your operating-system. With my case, I'm selecting Windows 10 64-bit.

That's it. As soon as you click on the button, the advantage Chromium offline installer download should start. Once downloaded, you are able to do the installation like every other software.

As you can tell, though not straightforward, it's pretty simply and simple to download the Edge offline installer.

It's not every single day but once in a even if you face a mistake like "you currently don't have permission to access this folder" while attempting to open, modify, or delete a folder in Windows. If you click the Continue button in the error window, Windows can have yet another error "You happen to be denied permission to access this folder".

Simply put, Windows doesn't permit you to access, modify, or delete the target folder. In other words, the folder restricted since you do not have sufficient permissions.

But, stop worrying. It is simple to get access to restricted folders in Windows with just several clicks. Here's how.

So why do You Face Insufficient Permissions Error in the First Place?

Although the error message is fairly obvious, you may be confused whey don't I have permission to modify or delete the folder on my small system. There are many causes of this sort of error. For example, when the folder or file is made by the system administrator so if you're not really a system administrator, you might get "You do not have permission to access this folder" error when trying to change or delete. Exactly the same is applicable to system folders. Additionally, the same logic does apply to user-specific folders. i.e, when the folder is made or of another user, you cannot modify or delete this folder without administrative privileges or proper permissions.

Another reason might be when you've multiple users in your system, another user might've deliberately denied permission for your user account from accessing the folder.

For obvious reasons, some system folders and files cannot be deleted even if you have the administrative privileges. This is because, along with lacking proper permissions, the ownership of those system files and folders are using the System, no user. This can help protect important files and folders from being accidentally deleted or modified by unwanted programs, like viruses.

No matter the reason, if you're the system administrator, it is simple to get access to the target folder by fixing you currently do not have permission to access this folder error with the addition of necessary permissions. Here's how.

The below method working in Windows 7 and Windows 8 too.

You Currently Don't Have Permission to Access This Folder

To fix this error, as mentioned earlier, you need to add proper permissions to the target folder. Once you have proper permissions, you are able to access the folder with no problems. You can add or modify permissions in the folder properties window. Just follow the steps and you will be able to fix the mistake soon.

1. First, right-click around the problematic folder and select "Properties" option.

2. In the folder properties window, visit the "Security" tab. Click on the "Edit" button.

3. The above action will open another window. Here, find out if there is a user named "Everyone" within the "Group or user names" section. When there is, disregard the next step and go to the step 5. If not, click on the "Add" button.

4. Now, type "everyone" in the "Enter the item names to select" and then click the "Check Names" button. This course of action will turn it into an actual user/object name. Click on the "Ok" button to carry on.

5. Within the Permissions window, select "Everyone" under Group or username section and choose the "Allow" checkbox alongside "Full control" underneath the permissions section. Click on the "Ok" button.

6. That is it. Now, every user in your system, as well as your user account has full treatments for the folder. So, you can modify or delete the folder depending on your need.

If you do not like providing individuals with the entire control permission, you are able to replace "everyone" in step 4 with your personal Windows username. This will make certain only your user account has full treatments for the folder.

Is certainly not simple? With only several clicks, you are able to take full control of any folder in the Windows and fix the error like "you currently don't have permission to access this folder".

Hope that helps. Comment below sharing your thoughts and experiences about using the above method to get access to a restricted folder in Windows 10.

Microsoft just released KB4477029 update to patch a burglar vulnerability in Flash Player. The vulnerability found was a critical one and is recommended to install KB4477029 update as soon as possible to patch the safety vulnerability. After installation, the software will be updated to Adobe Flash Player 31.0.0.153. As mentioned, this is just a security update and includes no features updates. According to Adobe, the vulnerability lets the attacker execute arbitrary code in current users context. The update is applicable to October 2018 update, April 2018 update, minimizing form of Windows 10.

The good thing is, you've Windows 10 automatic updates enabled, the operating-system will automatically upload it in the background. If you have paused Windows 10 updates, you may make Windows 10 download the updates manually. For that, open the Settings app while using keyboard shortcut Win + I. Now, go to "Update and Security -> Windows Update." On the right panel, click the button "Check for updates" button.

As soon as you click the button, Windows 10 will upload KB4477029. You might want to restart your system to accomplish cellular phone process.

If you cannot download the KB4477029 update while using settings app, you are able to download it while using below direct download link.

Direct Download Link to Download KB4477029

Here is the direct download connect to download KB4477029 update. This link contains download links for x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) systems. Based on the body architecture, download the main one you need. You can install KB4477029 like any other software. Don't forget to restart Windows to apply the update.

If you are interested, you can find more details concerning the vulnerability in the official Adobe Security Bulletin.

That's it.

Just a couple of weeks back Adobe released a patch to fix one of its several vulnerabilities. Microsoft promptly released the patch as KB4477029 to any or all supported Windows systems so you don't have to be worried about all the security holes in Flash Player. As usual, Adobe found another Zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2018-15982) that let attackers trigger and execute a random code and moderate your machine. This vulnerability affects almost every system and software that makes utilization of or has Flash Player installed. So, it's strongly suggested that you update your machine as soon as possible. Remember that this is just a burglar update with no feature updates are included.

If you have not paused Windows 10 updates, you can be sure that Windows 10 will automatically upload KB4471331 as quickly as possible. If you wish to, you are able to manually trigger the update by visiting "Settings -> Update and Security -> Windows update" and clicking on the "Check for updates" button. As soon as you click the button, Windows 10 will check and download all of the available updates.

In case of any errors or If you cannot download the KB4471331 update using the settings app, you are able to download it using the below direct download link.

Direct Download Connect to Download KB4471331

Here is the direct download connect to download KB4471331 update. This link contains download links for x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) systems. Based on the body architecture, download the main one you need. You can install KB4471331 like every other software. Be sure to restart Windows to use the update.

If you're interested, you'll find more details about the vulnerability from the official Adobe Security Bulletin and Microsoft security advisory.

That is it.