If you are not while using new Meet Now feature, you are able to take it off. Follow these steps to get rid of the Meet Now icon on the taskbar on Windows 10.

Using the latest update, Microsoft silently added a new icon called "Meet Now" to the taskbar. As you can guess in the name itself, it allows you to definitely create or join meetings with just a few clicks. Of course, the Meet Now button only works with official Microsoft services like Skype and Teams.

If you are working from home and frequently joining meetings via Skype or Teams then the new Meet Now icon is fairly handy since it gives you quick access. Not just for meetings however for personal video chats too. On the other hand, if you're not creating or joining any meeting or while using video chat functionality, the brand new 'Meet Now' icon is simply unnecessary on the taskbar. Thankfully, you can easily disable the Meet Now icon and remove it in the taskbar.

In this quick guide, let me share with you the steps to remove Meet Now icon around the taskbar in Windows 10.

Steps to remove Meet Now icon on the taskbar

The new 'Meet Now' icon is considered a system icon. Being a system icon, you are able to take it off either from the taskbar settings or in the icon's context menu. I will show each method, stick to the one you like.

First, right-click around the Meet Now icon around the taskbar.
Select the "Hide" option.
The meet now icon is hidden instantly.

Disable meet now icon from taskbar settings

The Meet Now icon can also be toggled off from the taskbar settings page. Here's how.

1. First, right-click on empty space around the taskbar.

2. Select the "Taskbar settings" option from the list.

3. Click on the "Turn system icons on or off" link under the "Notification area" section.

4. Now, discover the Meet Now option and turn them back.

5. Close the Settings app.

As soon as you switch off the option, the meet now icon will appear reduced from the taskbar's system tray.

Mouse acceleration causes accuracy issues in precision work and games. Here are the steps to completely turn off mouse acceleration on Windows 10.

Windows by default enables the mouse acceleration feature called Pointer Precision. As you have seen from the feature name itself, the Pointer Precision feature enhances the overall mouse acceleration to really make it feel a bit more natural and simple to make use of. Windows performs this by changing the mouse DPI quickly. That is one of the reasons why when you mouse make use of your mouse faster, the pointer will travel a greater distance. Of course, the opposite is also true where the pointer travels less whenever you move your mouse slowly.

Put simply, the mouse acceleration in Windows changes the pointer speed depending on how fast you are moving a button.

Within this simple and quick guide, let me show the steps to totally switch off mouse acceleration on Windows.

Why disable mouse acceleration?

Although the "Enhance Pointer Precision" a.k.a "Mouse Acceleration" feature is extremely beneficial in daily usage, it's really a hindrance at other times. For instance, mouse acceleration causes accuracy issues in Windows shooter games. One of many causes of this is Windows changing the mouse pointer acceleration constantly depending on your mouse movement speed and DPI settings. This constant shift in speed causes it to be hard to gauge accuracy and develop muscle memory.

So, if you're a gamer or somebody that does precision use a button, you have to turn off a button acceleration in Windows. Disabling a button acceleration provides you with better control over the pointer speed and accuracy.

How you can turn off mouse acceleration

To turn off mouse acceleration stick to the steps given below.

Open the Windows 10 Settings app.
Click on the "Devices" option.
Select the "Mouse" tab on the sidebar.
Click around the "Additional mouse options" under "Related settings".
Select the "Pointer Options" tab within the mouse properties window.
Uncheck the "Enhance pointer precision" checkbox.
Click the "Apply" button.
Click the "Ok" button.

Detailed steps

You can disable a button acceleration from Mouse Properties window.

First, open the Settings app by pressing the "Start key + I" shortcut or by hitting the "All Settings" button within the Notification Center. Within the Settings app, visit the "Devices" page and choose the "Mouse" tab around the sidebar. This is when the majority of the mouse related options are located.

In this article, click on the "Additional mouse options" link under the "Related settings" section. You'll find this selection on the right sidebar or at the bottom of the settings page.

The above action will open the Mouse Properties window. Here, visit the "Pointer Options" tab. As you can tell from the name, this is where you'll find options to control how the pointer behaves.

A fast tip: You should use the main.cpl Run command to open the Mouse Properties window.

In this tab, uncheck the "Enhance pointer precision" checkbox. Next, click the "Apply" and "Ok" buttons in order to save the alterations.

That is it. Using the above steps, you've disabled a button acceleration on Windows 10.

Depending on your mouse DPI settings, you might have to change the pointer speed to meet your use case. You can change the mouse pointer speed from the Pointer Options tab in the Mouse Properties window. Make use of the slider under "Select a pointer speed" to alter the pointer speed. Once satisfied with the alterations, click "Ok" in order to save changes.

When not while using system, most of us place it to sleep. This can help in not wasting power unnecessarily. The good thing about the Windows sleep mode is you can turn it on instantly. To show on the PC, all you have to do is press the ability button or lift the laptop lid.

Though pressing the power button to wake the PC isn't any struggle, you can make things a little bit bit easier. That is, you should use your mouse and keyboard to wake laptop computer.

Automatically, this method is enabled on most PCs. However, sometimes it might not act as it should or the choice is disabled. In the event that the case, you can manually let the option to wake the PC having a keyboard and/or mouse.

Here's how you can wake the PC from sleep using a mouse and keyboard.

Note: Though I'm showing this in Windows 10, exactly the same methods work on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

1. Wake PC From Sleep Using Keyboard

If you want to wake PC from sleep while using keyboard then you've to alter the unit settings from Device Manager.

1). To begin with, look for "Device Manager" within the start menu and open it up. Alternatively, press Win + X to spread out the Power User menu and click on the unit Manager option.

2). In the device manager window, expand the "Keyboard" section, right-click in your keyboard and choose the "Properties."

3). Go to the "Power Management" tab within the keyboard properties window.

4). Choose the checkbox "Allow this device to wake the computer" and then click the "Ok" button to save changes.

If you're not seeing the ability management tab, it is likely that the keyboard doesn't support this selection. Just to make sure, reinstall the laptop keyboard driver. If the keyboard props up feature, you will notice the power management tab.

That's it. From now on, you can wake PC from sleep while using keyboard. Just press any key around the keyboard.

2. Wake PC From Sleep with Mouse

In case your Mouse hardware supports it, you are able to wake PC from sleep while using mouse.

1). Open Device Manager by trying to find within the start menu.

2). Here, expand the "Mice and other pointing devices" section, right-click in your mouse, and select "Properties."

3). Within the properties window, navigate to the "Power Management" tab, and choose the checkbox "Allow this product to wake the pc." Click on the "Ok" button in order to save the alterations.

That's it. You can wake the PC from sleep by moving the mouse or clicking a button.

Again, if you're not seeing the power management tab then either you need to reinstall the mouse driver or your mouse doesn't support the feature.

If you ever want to disable waking PC using keyboard or mouse, just uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" underneath the power management tab for both mouse and keyboard.

If you're seeing the wrong location data, follow these steps to change location in the weather app on Windows 10.

Windows 10 has a built-in Weather app to show the current and upcoming climate data in eye-pleasing graphs and graphics. By default, the Windows 10 weather app shows the climate of the major city in your country or of Washington, US. When the required permissions are available, the elements app will use your present place to detect the town and show appropriate climate data.

Alternatively, you can manually set your own location in the weather app to determine the present or future climate data. This is especially useful when the weather app isn't detecting your location properly or maybe the default location is wrong.

If needed, you can add multiple locations to the Windows 10 weather app. That way, you can preserve tabs on the climate in multiple locations without having to change the location each and every time.

Directly into today's guide, let me show you the steps to change location in Weather app on Windows 10.

How you can change location in the weather app

Time needed: 2 minutes.

You can change the location in the Weather app settings page. Here are the steps to follow along with.

Open the Weather app

The very first thing you must do is open the elements app. It can be done by clicking on the elements app tile within the Start menu. Alternatively, search for "Weather" in the Start menu.

Open settings from the weather app

The place settings are available around the Settings page. To spread out it, click the "Settings" (gear) icon appearing in the bottom left corner.

Select "Default location" option

To create a custom location in the weather app, select the "Default location" option under the "Launch Location" section.

Type location name in the 'default location' field.

Now type the name of your city or location and choose it in the dropdown menu.

That is it. The settings are saved automatically. Return to the primary weather screen and you will begin to see the climate info concerning the new city you chose.

Add multiple locations towards the weather app

As mentioned before, you can add multiple favorite cities to the weather app. To do that, select the "Favorites" icon around the sidebar.

Next, click on the "Add" button to include a city or location to your favorites list. Once added, you are able to monitor the climate of these cities directly from the favorites page.

Options that come with Windows 10 Weather app

When compared with other weather applications, either free or paid, the Windows 10 weather app has some neat features like the climate forecast for ten days, historical weather, maps, precipitation, humidity, sunrise & sunset, and much more. Of all of the features, I personally like the Maps feature which shows the change within the climate of a given location during a period of 24 hours time. This transformation includes data regarding temperature, precipitation, satellite, and cloud on the select map.

If you have never tried the Maps feature, I strongly recommend you allow it a try.

Can't stand the automatic screen rotation in Windows 10? Here is a simple method to completely turn off auto rotate in Windows 10.

Unlike regular laptops or desktops, if you are using a two-in-one or convertible laptop, Windows 10 automatically enables the screen rotation feature. When enabled, the screen will auto-rotate with respect to the physical orientation from the display. As you can guess, when utilizing a convertible laptop that may often be combined with only a touchscreen, the auto-rotate feature is hugely helpful. For instance, if you work with your convertible in portrait mode, the screen will auto-rotate to support the brand new screen orientation.

Although the auto-rotate feature is advantageous in many situations, it can also be a hassle sometimes. This is especially true when you don't want Windows 10 to change the screen orientation. Some of the situations include although not restricted to changing sitting positions, passing your laptop to other people, etc. In those cases, it is better to show off auto rotate functionality in Windows 10.

In the current simple guide, allow me to get you though new ways to disable auto rotate in Windows 10 operating-system.

Disable auto rotate in Notification Center

To show off auto rotate in Windows 10, you need to simply switch on the Rotation Lock feature. Once the rotation lock is turned on, Windows 10 won't auto-rotate the screen. Here's the best way to get it done.

1. First, click the Notifications icon. You will notice it towards the rightmost side from the taskbar. It'll seem like a message bubble icon.

2. Within the Notification Center, click the "Rotation Lock" button to show it on. Once turned on, the button color can change to a dark color and you will also briefly see "On" within the button.

Depending on the button layout, you might have to expand the quick actions section. To do that click on the "Expand" link over the buttons.

If you fail to see the Rotation Lock button within the Notification, it is possible that it is hidden via Settings or your system doesn't support the auto-rotate feature. In case you are wondering, the auto-rotate feature works while using accelerometer sensor included in your laptop. In case your laptop doesn't have the necessary sensor, Windows cannot auto-rotate.

Switch off auto rotate in Settings app

You can also switch off auto rotate from the Settings app itself. This really is helpful if you fail to discover the Rotation Lock a quick response within the Notification center. Here's how.

1. Open the Settings app. You can either press the "Windows key + I" shortcut or click on the "All Settings" button in the Notification. Of course, you may also look for "Settings" within the Start menu.

2. After opening the Settings application, select the "System" option after which click on the "Display" tab around the sidebar.

3. Around the right page, switch on the "Rotation Lock" option. You will find this method right underneath the "Scale and Layout" section's "Display Orientation" dropdown menu.

If you cannot see the Rotation Lock option, this means the body doesn't support the auto-rotate feature. As mentioned before, your laptop should have a special sensor called accelerometer for auto-rotate to operate.

That is all. After turning it on, Windows won't auto-rotate when you physically alter the display orientation.

After Microsoft solved the browser issue by migrating Microsoft Edge towards the Chromium engine, the software giant is now reportedly likely to deal with another shortcoming of their desktop operating-system.

Windows 10 will soon get a new Outlook app for Windows 10, which time, it'd be based on Outlook on the web. The report originates from WindowsCentral, which says a preview version of the brand new app would go live later this year for insiders, and so the public launch could happen in 2022.

Microsoft currently offers two different desktop email clients for Windows 10 users, namely the Mail app that comes pre-loaded using the OS and the Outlook app that's area of the Office productivity suite.

But on the other hand, it's not a secret the default mail app still leaves a great deal to be desired, despite not necessarily lacking too many features than the full version of Outlook.
Mail app in maintenance mode

At this point, however, Microsoft has reportedly moved the Mail app to maintenance mode, which means you shouldn't expect any massive improvements anytime soon. While UI improvements for that Mail app continue to be expected later this season, the feature lineup would remain virtually unchanged, in mind has now switched for this new mail client based on Outlook on the internet. The app is codenamed Project Monarch, and the goal for Microsoft would be to offer a unified experience across all platforms, including both Windows and non-Windows os's.

On Windows 10, however, the Outlook app includes new capabilities, including lower resource usage and extra capabilities for example offline storage. This makes sense for an email app, especially as Windows currently lacks a strong client that can serve both consumers and businesses looking for a sophisticated app for use within company networks.

Windows XP is definitely an operating-system that has a well-deserved devote technology history books, as it's the version that completely changed how we done our computers.

Windows XP was a super-successful OS, there's without a doubt, and despite Microsoft giving up on its back in April 2014, users still weren't ready to give up it.

For this reason Windows XP actually survived so many years after being release, regardless of the obvious security perils of staying with a product that no more receives security updates and patches. Even though quite a few users put other safety measures in place, all so that they can remain secure on Windows XP even after no more support, others did nothing in connection with this, so their computers just remained vulnerable to potential attacks.

"Microsoft provided support for Windows XP for the past 12 years. However the time came for all of us, together with our hardware and software partners, to take a position our resources toward supporting newer technologies so that we are able to continue to deliver great new experiences. As a result, technical assistance for Windows XP is no longer available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC," Microsoft warned.

"If you continue using Windows XP since support has ended, your pc will still work but it might be susceptible to security risks and viruses. Internet Explorer 8 can also be no longer supported, therefore if your Windows XP PC is attached to the Internet and also you use Ie 8 to surf the net, you may be exposing your PC to additional threats. Also, weight loss software and hardware manufacturers still optimize for more recent versions of Windows, you will probably encounter more apps and devices that do not work with Windows XP."

A lot more than 6 years after its official demise, Windows XP is able to go dark for good. The world is finally ready for a future without Windows XP, as its share of the market has dropped below 1 percent, with most devices already upgraded to some newer version of Windows.

The ones that continue to be running Windows XP aren't attached to the Internet, and technically, this can be considered another security measure to avoid a possible attack. The reason many people stick with Windows XP comes down to app compatibility, as internal apps designed for Windows XP may need major updates to operate on newer Windows.

But on the other hand, it's not a secret that moving from Windows XP to newer Windows, in this case, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 (Windows 7 is not supported either) requires purchasing new hardware, something not everybody is willing to complete. Microsoft too admits that moving to Windows 10 needs a new PC, which is the only way to use order to go through the new OS.

"If your present PC can't run Windows 10, it may be time to consider looking for a new one. Be sure to explore our great choice of new PCs. They're more powerful, lightweight, and classy than ever before?aand by having an average price that's considerably less expensive than the average PC was 14 years back," Microsoft says.

The good thing is that most people out there have recently received the content, so Windows XP has become going dark, making room for newer operating systems. The bad news is the fact that Windows 7 now takes Windows XP's place because the unsupported operating system that users don't want to abandon, therefore it remains seen just how long it'll take until that one goes dark too.

File Explorer on Windows 10 enables you to open any FTP site. Here are the steps to spread out an FTP site in File Explorer on Windows 10.

Windows File Explorer is one of the most powerful tools of all of them. Not just for managing local files and folders but File Explorer also allows you to connect with remote servers by mapping them as network drives. Once you map the network drive, you are able to browse, copy, or manage remote files just like you would with your local files.

Apart from manually mapping network drives, you can also open an FTP site directly in the File Explorer itself. Many of the helpful if you want to quickly browse an FTP site in File Explorer without first adding it as being a network drive. For example, you are able to configure your Android phone as an FTP server and access the Android file system via File Explorer while using FTP address.

Within this quick and simple article, I will show an easy method to open FTP site in File Explorer in Windows 10.

The steps below will work in Windows 7 and Windows 8 & 8.1.

Open FTP site in File Explorer

To open an FTP site within the File Explorer, follow the steps shown below.

1. First, open the File Explorer application. To achieve that, press the "Windows key + E" keyboard shortcut. You may also click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar.

2. After opening the File Explorer, click the address bar. This is when you have to type the FTP site address.

3. In the address bar, type the FTP site address and press "Enter". With my case, the FTP address comes with a specific port number (9999). So, I typed the FTP address along with its port number.

The FTP address can be within the below formats.

ftp://domain.com/
ftp://ftp.domain.com/
ftp://192.168.0.100/
ftp://192.168.0.100:21

4. Once you press the Enter button on your keyboard, Windows File Explorer will open the FTP site. Do remember when the FTP site is protected with a password, Windows will prompt you for all those details. In that case, type the username and password and click the "Log in" button to open the FTP site in File Explorer.

Important notes to keep in mind

When connecting to FTP server in File Explorer, there are some things you should always bear in mind.

The FTP connection is unencrypted by design. What this means is anyone in the network to determine your work and transferring to and from the FTP server.
You can only open FTP sites in File Explorer. You cannot open SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) or FTPS (FTP with SSL/TLS) sites. The main reason with this is the fact that File Explorer doesn't support encrypted FTP connections.
If you're opening the FTP site frequently, you are able to map FTP as network drive within the File Explorer. This removes the necessity to manually type the FTP address every time and makes your lifetime a bit easier.
If you cannot upload files towards the FTP site, it could because the FTP server prohibits or doesn't give Write permission to an outside connection. This can be a common security precaution for many FTP servers.
Compared to third-party programs like File-Zilla, the FTP functionality in File Explorer is barebone. However, it's enough for most common tasks like accessing and copying files.
You cannot create an FTP server from File Explorer.

That's all.

If you are not sure which DirectX version is installed in your system, adopt these measures to quickly look into the DirectX version in Windows 10, 8, & 7.

Windows comes pre-installed with DirectX. Actually, DirectX is a part of Windows for some time now. In case you have no idea, DirectX is widely used in the majority of the games you experience Windows. Additionally, DirectX is also used by lots of applications for different graphics components and content.

Depending on your Windows version and it is update, the DirectX version will be different. For many games or applications, you need a specific version to run it. This is especially true of older or completely new games. For instance, if you have an older form of DirectX, you might not have the ability to take part in the newer games without first updating DirectX in Windows 10.

Thankfully, most game installers and launchers automatically install the latest version of DirectX simply to be sure. However, that may 't be the situation of each and every game. So, if you're not able to play games or receiving DirectX errors, it is crucial that you check the DirectX version on Windows 10.

Within this simple and quick article, allow me to show how to check the DirectX version in Windows 10.

Steps to check on DirectX version in Windows

To find the DirectX version in Windows, follow the steps shown below.

Open the beginning menu.
Type "dxdiag" in the Start menu and press Enter.
Select the "System" tab at the very top.
You will see the present DirectX version next to "DirectX Version".
Click "Exit" to shut dxdiag.

Detailed steps

To check the DirectX version, you can use a built-in tool called DxDiag. This can be a DirectX diagnostic tool. As being a diagnostic tool, this application will tell which form of DirectX is a component of your machine. Actually, you may also use DxDiag to locate your video card manufacturer and model no ..

1. First, we need to open the DxDiag tool. To achieve that, open the beginning menu, type "dxdiag" and then click the end result. This course of action will instantly open the DxDiag tool.

2. After opening the DxDiag tool, click on the "System" tab appearing on the top bar.

3. Within this tab, you will see your present DirectX version next to "DirectX Version" appearing at the bottom.

4. After discovering the version number, click the "Exit" button at the end to close the DxDiag tool.

By penning this, the latest version is DirectX 12.

If you are running a classic system, you might see DirectX 11 or even DirectX 9. If you want to update the DirectX version, download the state DirectX web installer and it will install the latest DirectX version. Do remember that the web installer is only going to install the latest compatible version. So if you are using Windows 7, you will possibly not be able to install DirectX 12.

If you wish to, you may also download DirectX offline installer from the state website. However, may possibly not depend on date. That being said, once installed, Windows will update it towards the latest version whenever needed.

Apple has launched Apple Silicon with much fanfare, and also the first devices powered by the ARM-based M1 chip already are available or download.

Apple's investments in ARM processors has caught the interest from the entire industry, and several other medication is already thought to be focusing on similar projects.

And now it looks like Microsoft is also considering such an approach, with a report from Bloomberg indicating the Redmond-based software giant is now working on its custom ARM chip.

The reason is to power Surface products and servers, and Microsoft has got the same long-term goal as Apple: reduce reliance on Intel and instead use in-house built products that are better optimized for the company's own devices.

For the time being, however, Microsoft is still considered in early development stages, but at a quick glance, this project virtually is sensible for the company.

An evolution of SQ chips

Windows 10 on ARM has already been a sure thing and Microsoft is pushing a hardship on it, though at the moment, it's only using Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips for the whole thing. But in the long run, Microsoft could further expand the forex market with its own processors, thus stepping away from Qualcomm.

Windows Server for ARM is another project that Microsoft is paying more attention to, so investing in Microsoft silicon could help the company expand more in this regard.

For the time being, however, Microsoft has remained tight-lipped on such an approach, although it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see the company following in the footsteps of rival Apple. The Surface Pro X already posseses an SQ chip, which is a custom-built processor built by Microsoft together with Qualcomm, so sooner or later, the software giant could perform the whole thing on its own without resorting to someone.