Microsoft Edge

Quick Tip for Improving Your Computer’s Performance

Over time, we install a lot of software applications on our computers and many of these applications are specifically coded to automatically start after every reboot and run silently in the background. They consume a lot of system resources and can affect our computers’ performance over time. 

In this video, Krystal Son, Escalation Team Lead at Kite Technology shows you how to see which software applications are configured to run in the background and how to disable them from starting unless you specifically want to open the application. By taking a few minutes to look over the list and turn some of them off, you can squeeze more performance out of your computer.

Here are the steps for disabling applications from running in the background:

On your computer, you’re going to right click the Windows Start Button and select Task Manager.

Once this window pops up, make sure you select the Startup Tab.

Here is where you can see all the applications on your computer that are configured to automatically restart and run in the background every time your computer is rebooted.

So, you can look through the list and turn off any that you don’t need to automatically run in the background. This is not disabling them or uninstalling them from your system. It’s just telling it don’t run in the background unless I specifically call on you to open.

For example, if I turn off Adobe, it doesn’t mean that I’m uninstalling the application. I can still click on Adobe and look at PDFs anytime I want. It just means that Adobe is not going to be running in the background and consuming resources from my computer.

One important thing to note is that any file-syncing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive – you want to make sure you keep those on because you want your files to always be saved and uploaded to the cloud.

Additionally, if you work in an insurance agency and you see anything listed here called ASI. whatever it is, make sure you keep that enabled. Those are specific services for Applied Epic and TAM to run successfully.

Once you’ve gone through your list and cleaned that up, all you need to do to make those changes take effect is reboot your computer. Just go back down to the Start Button, select the Power Button and Restart. That’s it!

We hope you found this tip helpful! If you’re a KiteTech client and would like some help with this, please contact our Help Desk and one of our technicians can assist you. 

If you’re not currently working with KiteTech and would like to learn more about our Managed IT or Consulting Services, please reach out and we’d be happy to schedule a conversation to learn more about your technology needs.

Picture of Krystal Son

Krystal Son

Escalation Team Lead
Kite Technology Group

Best Microsoft Edge Productivity Features

Close your eyes and think back to the early 2000’s. What was your web browser of choice?

According to major sources, if you browsed the web in the early 2000’s, there was a 75% chance you were using Microsoft Internet Explorer. The next decade would dethrone Microsoft as other browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari reduced Internet Explorer’s market share to less than 10%.

Microsoft needed to act – and fast!

In 2015 Microsoft introduced a new browser called Edge, which they hoped would help them earn back their spot at the top. This move was a clear indication that Internet Explorer did not have much of a future; Edge is the new future.

Luckily, Microsoft learned from their mistakes, and virtually everyone agrees that Edge is a huge improvement over Internet Explorer. This proves true in many aspects, such as better performance, enhanced security, and wider website compatibility.

But perhaps the most noteworthy improvement is the added productivity features now available in Microsoft Edge. By using just two of these new features which I will describe, I am confident that you can improve your workflows so you can get more done in less time with fewer headaches.

Vertical Tabs

The first feature is called Vertical Tabs. The term “tab” in web browsers, which has been around for a long time now, simply refers to an open web page; we can use multiple tabs to open several different web pages and keep them inside a single window.

Vertical Tabs is a new mode in Microsoft Edge that you can toggle on or off, and it offers a highly organized view of all the tabs you have open in Edge at any given time. You can even group tabs together into a “Tab Group”, which helps you keep related tabs under a common header. 

In my example, I have created three Tab Groups because my pages fit well into three distinct categories: Microsoft, KiteTech, and Microsoft Edge Article. You can collapse a Tab Group to hide its pages if you aren’t actively using them, like I did with KiteTech in my example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To enable vertical tabs, click on the icon in the top-left corner of the window and then click “Turn on vertical tabs”.

Collections

The second feature, called “Collections”, adds a unique way of organizing not only web pages, but also other media like images and notes. A Collection is almost like a scrapbook for your ideas. You can combine all the different kinds of pieces that make up your idea and store them in Microsoft Edge where you can continue working on it.

Take this article for example. To write it, I needed a few things: a guide to help me remember my purpose for writing and target audience; a few general requirements to keep in mind; several web pages for research; and of course, the article document itself. Rather than try to keep all this information on a place like my desktop (or worse, inside my head), I added all the relevant content into a Collection which I titled “Microsoft Edge Article”. I did not write this entire article in one sitting, so my Collection helped me pick up right where I left off when I came back to my computer and opened Microsoft Edge. When I am done, I may delete that collection, but it surely is serving me well now while I am still working on it.

 

 

To access Collections, click the 3 dots menu  in the top-right and click on Collections. You can also choose to right-click on the Collections option and choose “Show in toolbar” to keep it visible in your Edge window at all times (see screenshot to the right).

 

Finally, while each of these features offers massive value on its own, I am particularly fond of how they combine to help you work better.

If you are browsing the web and opening several related web pages, you can click the Vertical Tabs menu and choose “Add all tabs to Collections”. This will create a new Collection containing all open web pages, and from there you can continue to fill that Collection with other related materials.

 

 

After you fill a Collection with web pages, you can right-click that Collection and choose “Open all”, and all the web pages in that Collection open under a Tab Group. Again, this may be useful if a project will take multiple sittings; by combining related web pages, you can easily continue right where you left off.

 

To tell the truth, the research that went into writing this article has even opened my eyes to some functionality I didn’t know existed in Microsoft Edge. I am hopeful that you will be able to include some of these techniques in your workflows and improve your productivity.

To learn more about KiteTech’s Managed IT and Consulting Services, please don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a conversation. We’d love the opportunity to get to know you and your business and discover how we can help you meet your technology needs. 

Picture of Daniel Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert

Chief Operating Officer
Kite Technology Group

The Sun is Setting on Internet Explorer- How Microsoft Edge Will Fill the Gap

Since its introduction in October of 2013, Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) has been one of the top 3 popular web browsers. A large reason for this is that it ships with and has deep integration with the Windows operating system. However, as readily available as IE11 is to use, there are early indications the sun may finally be setting on IE11.

One of Microsoft’s other flagship products, Microsoft 365 (M365), will begin to phase out support for integration with IE11 as early as November 2020. The first product within the M365 ecosphere to stop working with IE11 will be Microsoft Teams. You will still be able to use Teams from the standalone application if you are appropriately licensed, or from a different web browser. This may cause some concern, as you may be thinking, “As this plan continues to phase out, will it create more work for me when I have to bridge between modern and legacy web browsing? Will I be forced to use Chrome or Firefox for 95% of my browsing, but have to switch to IE11 for that one website or application that won’t work in Chrome?”

At its core, that is a real concern. While IE11 is still receiving mainstream support, plenty of applications and websites still rely on IE11. Today the online landscape is much more sophisticated than it was when Internet Explorer 11 debuted. Open web standards and newer browsers are facilitating (demanding) better online experiences.

To help ease this burden, I would like to introduce you to the newest version of Microsoft Edge. This isn’t the version of Edge you received when Windows 10 was installed on your computer. This is a new version that Microsoft has since released to replace that earlier version of Edge. Leave it to Microsoft to confuse their offerings; I’m looking at you, Office 365, now being Microsoft 365, but still having Office 365 available in some capacity. But I digress. The new version of Edge is based on Chromium, an open-sourced web browser that also serves as the core for the most popular internet browser out there, Google Chrome.

As when making the switch to any browser, you are often prompted to import your favorite websites, saved passwords, autofill data, and browsing history. When importing from Google Chrome, you get the added benefit of many extensions also coming over, since both browsers are built off Chromium.

Microsoft is sensitive to the concern raised earlier about bridging between two browsing experiences. They address that concern in this new version of Edge by including a feature called “Internet Explorer Mode.” Internet Explorer Mode allows you to reload a page that may be unusable or misbehaving in Edge and view it as if you were using IE11. All without having to leave or work in another application; it does it all from Edge!

To ensure this feature is enabled, after downloading this new version of Edge, click on the three horizontal dots menu in the top right of the screen, and select Settings. (See the Fun Fact bump out for more information about these menu icons). From the menu on the left, select Default Browser and make sure the toggle for “Allow sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode” is enabled. If it was not already enabled, you would have to restart Edge to commit the change in settings.

Once this is enabled, you can use it any time you want to reload a website that appears not to be working correctly in Microsoft Edge. Just click the three horizontal dots menu again and select More Tools, then “Reload in Internet Explorer mode”.

You’ll notice two things which will confirm you’re in Internet Explorer mode:

  1. The familiar IE11 blue “E” icon will precede the website address in the Address bar.
  2. A message will appear below the Address bar, reminding you that most websites work better in Edge (just in case you loaded IE mode by accident, I suppose).

I can appreciate Microsoft’s attempt to simplify the user experience by having one less application to manage. However, as good as an attempt this is, there may still be the odd website or two, which will need the full version of IE11, so your mileage may vary. Thankfully, as stated earlier, IE11 still has mainstream support. There are no hard dates r

eleased indicating IE11 will be going away. Unfortunately, when a flagship product from Microsoft is losing support, we can only speculate the writing is on the wall, albeit a distant wall.

If you currently find yourself bridging between two web browsers to get your work done, I would challenge you to make the conversion to this new version of Edge now. Try it out and get used to the nuances now before there is an official end date for IE11. See how the websites you have needed two applications for in the past can now be used from one application. Go forth and be productive!

To learn more about how Kite Technology can help your business leverage technology for greater productivity and success, contact us today for a complimentary consultation!

“Meat” the menu icons. Menu icons have come in several variations lately. An interesting trend developed referring to them as foods. I guess us IT folks are always hungry. The three stacked horizontal lines are often referred to as a Hamburger Menu or Sandwich Button (≡). 3 vertical dots are sometimes called the Kebab Menu or Dango Menu – after the Japanese treat (⋮), and the three horizontal dots have been called the Meatball Menu from time to time (…). All that talk about food though has left the three horizontal dots with another referenced name; the Ant menu. I guess with all that food; someone had to invite the ants! 🙂

adam atwell

Adam Atwell

Cloud solutions architect

Adam is passionate about consulting with organizations across the country to help them develop and execute a cloud adoption strategy that meets their business needs and future objectives. Adam oversees and manages our company strategy for Microsoft 365 adoption and is responsible for future growth and development inside Microsoft 365 and other cloud technologies.