How to Easily Install Apps With Windows 10’s Package Manager (Using winstall)

The winstall.apps website in Microsoft Edge on a Windows 10 desktop

Microsoft has a new Windows Package Manager that lets you install applications from the command line. Mehedi Hassan’s winstall provides an easy web app you can use to quickly and easily install your favorite Windows applications in a few clicks.

How This Works: winstall and winget Explained

Microsoft’s Windows Package Manager, also named “winget,” lets you quickly download and install one or more applications with a single command. It’s a lot like a Linux package manager. As of early November 2020, the Windows Package Manager is still in preview form and is not yet included in Windows 10. However, it will one day be stable and built into Windows 10.

That’s great news, but most people don’t want to use the command line, preferring to install their apps using a graphical interface. That’s what winstall, a third-party application, does. Created by Mehedi Hassan, winstall is a web-based interface that lets you choose your favorite applications in a browser. The website then gives you the command that will automatically install your selected apps with winget. You don’t need to know how winget works or write the command yourself.

It’s a lot like Ninite, but it uses the Windows Package Manager.

Here’s one reason winstall is great: You don’t have to install any extra software. It’s a website that generates a command that works with the Windows Package Manager. You can see exactly what it’s doing on your computer. In the future, there will likely be other graphical interfaces for the Windows Package Manager. winstall is just the first popular one.

[mai mult...]

How to Turn On HTTPS-Only Mode in Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox’s HTTPS-Only Mode provides extra privacy and security online. With it enabled, Firefox will try hard to only load encrypted HTTPS websites. If only HTTP is available, Firefox won’t load the unencrypted website without asking you.

The secure protocol HTTPS is the bedrock method of maintaining privacy and security on the web. It sets up an encrypted connection between your browser and the web server that prevents third parties from eavesdropping on or tampering with the data being sent between you and the site you’re browsing. Unfortunately, not all sites support HTTPS, and some that do may fall back to non-encrypted HTTP versions of a site if you visit them through an HTTP link (such as http://www.example.com instead of https://www.example.com—notice the missing “s” in the address).

Starting in Mozilla Firefox version 83, which was released on November 16, 2020, you can turn on HTTPS-Only Mode. Firefox will automatically attempt to load the HTTPS version of a website even if you visit the site through a link to an unencrypted HTTP address. If one isn’t available, you’ll have to provide explicit permission before Firefox will load an HTTP page. Here’s how to enable this option.

[mai mult...]

How to Uninstall the October 2020 Update

If Windows is working fine and you can use the operating system normally, you can uninstall the update from Settings.

First, open the Settings app (you can press Windows+i to quickly launch it) and head to Update & Security > Recovery.

Under “Go back to the previous version of Windows 10,” click “Get started.” Go through the wizard interface that appears to roll back. Windows will prompt you to reboot your PC.

 

[mai mult...]

How to Change Your Default Email App on iPhone and iPad

If you’re using a third-party email client on your iPhone or iPad, you can change the default email app as long as you’re running iOS 14, iPadOS 14, or newer. But unless you’re looking for it, you might miss the setting. Here’s how to change your default email app.

In order to switch your default email app, you must have a third-party email client installed from the App Store on your phone or tablet that has been updated to support the feature. For example, as of this writing, Outlook, Spark, and Hey support it, but the official Gmail app does not.

[mai mult...]

How to Create and Use an Email Template in Microsoft Outlook

Email templates in Microsoft Outlook are easy to create, but not so easy to navigate to whenever you actually want to use one. Fortunately, you can create a template and pin it to the ribbon for easier access. Templates are really useful for repetitive emails that use boilerplate text. In Outlook, it’s easy to create and save a template. Opening one, however, requires a ton of menu clicks. It’s easier to just save the email in your “Drafts” folder, and then copy and paste the contents into a new email.

That works, but you can make life much easier if you add the template selector to the ribbon. This reduces the number of mouse clicks and allows you to use templates as they were intended. A library of useful prewritten emails you can select from a menu will save you lots of time. To get started, we’ll show you how to create an email template, and then how to add a template selector to the ribbon.

[mai mult...]

3 Ways to Run Android on Your PC and Make Your Own “Dual OS” System

Microsoft and Google may have put the kibosh on Intel’s planned “Dual OS” PCs—devices with both Windows and Android on them—but that doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream of Android and Windows on the same machine. You can run Android apps and even the Android operating system on your current PC.

This allows you to use Android’s ecosystem of touch-based apps on touch-enabled Windows laptops and tablets, so it does make some sense. Of course, the process is clunker than just using Windows apps, but if there are Android-specific apps or games you want to run on your PC, here are four ways to do it.

[mai mult...]

How to Run Android on Your Computer

Android isn’t largely thought of as a desktop operating system, but if you’re curious about how Google’s mobile OS works, running it on a device you already have isn’t a bad idea. This will give you an idea of what to expect on a phone or tablet, all without making a single change to your laptop or desktop since you can easily do this from a flash drive or memory card.

[mai mult...]