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| PC World - 13 Dec (PC World)The processor of current PCs is usually powerful enough to work smoothly with all types of content. However, some processes put a higher load on the processor — for example, when you watch videos.
Still, playback is usually smooth because streaming providers automatically reduce the video quality if the internet connection is not fast enough or the PC’s performance is insufficient.
Nevertheless, it makes sense to reduce the load on the CPU because this reduces power consumption and the battery lasts longer on laptops.
The graphics unit (GPU) of the PC is located in the main processor, in a separate graphics chip, or on a dedicated graphics card. The GPU often doesn’t have much to do apart from displaying the desktop. But the graphics chip is often more powerful than the CPU when it comes to playing (decoding) videos.
The GPU can also help when converting videos into other formats (encoding). The overall power consumption is reduced, videos can be played in higher quality levels or converted faster.
Improve performance: Even the fastest graphics card remains almost unused under Linux when watching videos on the web. You first have to teach the browser hardware acceleration.
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GPU utilization under Linux
Whether and how hardware acceleration can be utilized by the graphics chip depends on several factors under Linux:
The model of the graphics chip and its capabilities
The driver used
The display protocol (X11 or Wayland)
The respective software (browser, video player, video editor)
Example Nvidia: Older graphics chips often only support hardware acceleration for codecs that are now less common. Newer models usually have more to offer.
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There are also several interfaces for different application areas that can be used for hardware acceleration:
Vulkan is mainly used by games and can also be used when playing videos.
Open GL is the predecessor of Vulkan and offers support for 2D/3D vector graphics on the desktop and in games.
Vdpau offers hardware acceleration for video playback, comes from Nvidia, and is also supported by AMD graphics drivers.
CUDA is a programming interface (API) from Nvidia with which program parts can be processed by the graphics processor (GPU). The API is used, for example, in AI applications and when playing (NVDEC) and converting (NVENC) videos.
VA-API is an interface for decoding and encoding videos with AMD and Intel GPUs.
Quick Sync Video is the name of the hardware acceleration of Intel GPUs, which is accessed via the VA-API.
Media players usually recognize the available interfaces automatically and use hardware acceleration by default. Web browsers, on the other hand, usually do not offer this function with common graphics chips.
Current graphics chips provide hardware acceleration for playback with the codecs H264 (AVCHD), H265 (HEVC), and VP9. This means you are well equipped because YouTube, for example, usually uses H264 or VP9.
You can find out what a chip can do from Nvidia, Intel and AMD.
Check VA-API: The vainfo tool lists which codecs for decoding and encoding (“VAEntrypointEncSliceLP”) are supported by the graphics chip in the computer.
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In the foreseeable future, YouTube will increasingly switch to the license fee-free AV1 codec, the improved successor to VP9. Netflix will also be using AV1 in the future.
However, only newer graphics chips such as Intel Tiger Lake (11th generation) or Nvidia GeForce from RTX 2050 offer hardware acceleration (decoder) for AV1. If you want to use the AV1 encoder for conversion, you need a graphics card from GeForce RTX 4050, AMD Radeon RX 7000, or Intel Arc.
Even if the graphics chip supports a format, drivers and interfaces must also be compatible. VLC, for example, can use Vdpau for hardware acceleration if the Nvidia driver is installed.
However, browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome rely on VA-API, which the Nvidia driver does not support. A suitable driver with VA-API (“nvidia-vaapi-driver”) is only officially available in the distribution repository from Ubuntu 23.04 onwards. Support for VA-API is included as standard for Intel graphics; AMD drivers support VA-API and Vdpau.
The open source driver Nouveau for Nvidia chips also supports VA-API and VDPAU, but only for older chipsets such as GeForce 700 or 600.
Check support for Intel chips
The graphics units from Intel are usually found in the CPU of the PC. Quick Sync Video has been included since around 2011, starting with the Sandy Bridge processors (Intel HD Graphics 2000 and 3000). Linux distributions contain the necessary drivers as standard.
VA-API in practice: When started in the terminal, the VLC media player indicates whether it uses “hardware decoding.” The intel_gpu_top tool shows the GPU utilization.IDG
You can find out what the chipset has to offer in the terminal with the vainfo tool, which can be installed via the package of the same name. It displays the version numbers of the VA-API and the Intel driver.
You can also see the supported codec profiles, such as “VAProfileH264Main” and “VAProfileVP8Version0_3”. The addition “VAEntrypointEncSliceLP” indicates that encoding, i.e. accelerated conversion to this format, is also offered for this codec.
You can check whether a program actually uses the VA-API with another tool, which you can install with
sudo apt install intel-gpu-tools
in the terminal. Then start
sudo intel_gpu_top
and in another terminal call the media player VLC in the form
vlc
If the video is encoded with a codec such as VP9 or H264, VLC provides information on the use of VA-API and the associated driver, intel_gpu_top shows the utilization of the GPU.
Note: If a dedicated graphics card from Nvidia is installed in the PC, the functions of the Intel graphics unit cannot be used. For laptops with hybrid graphics, you can switch to the Intel chip via the Nvidia X Server Settings tool under “PRIME profiles.” If the option is not available, use the following in the terminal
sudo prime-select intel
You must then log out and log in again. Replace “intel” with “nvidia” or “on-demand” (if required) to switch back to the more powerful Nvidia chip.
Play videos in Firefox with VA-API
Firefox offers support for the VA-API under X11 (Linux Mint) and under Wayland (Ubuntu) by default.
Call up the internal address “about:support” to check the function. Below the “Graphics” section, you will see “WebRenderer” after “Composing.” If “WebRenderer (software)” is displayed here, hardware acceleration is not active. Under “Media” you can find out for which codecs hardware decoding is offered.
You can call up a list of YouTube example videos in high resolution here.
Show “Statistics for interested parties” via the context menu of the video. If the line after “Codec” begins with “av01,” hardware acceleration is only available if the graphics chip already supports the format.
Try out different resolutions after clicking on the cogwheel symbol behind “Quality” until “vp09” appears behind “Codec.”
You can also install the “Your Codecs” extension in Firefox and use it to block the VP8, VP9, or AV1 formats. If all are blocked, YouTube will deliver videos with the AVC1 codec (H.264), but usually only in a lower resolution of up to 1080p.
In the YouTube settings, which you can access via the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top left, the behavior can be influenced under “Playback and performance.” If the graphics chip does not support AV1, activate the option “Prefer AV1 for SD” under “AV1 settings.”
YouTube then only uses AV1 at low resolutions, which reduces the CPU load. Otherwise it will switch to VP9 or another format. In the terminal you can use
sudo intel_gpu_top
to see how much support from the GPU reduces the load on the CPU.
Monitor AMD graphics chip: Radeon Profile shows information on the AMD GPU used and displays the temperature and utilization of the graphics processor.IDG
AMD graphics chips: Linux automatically sets up the necessary drivers and the functions can be checked with vainfo. If the tool does not display anything, the kernel modules probably do not support the chipset.
For newer AMD graphics cards, you should use kernel versions 6.2 or higher. Ubuntu 22.04 automatically installs this version through updates. Users of Linux Mint 21 go to “System management > Update management, and in the menu to “View > Linux kernel.” Select a more recent kernel version and click on “Install.”
If you want to check the GPU utilization, install the Radeon-Profile tool with these three lines:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:radeon-profile/stablesudo apt updatesudo apt install radeon-profile
The value behind “GPU usage” increases as soon as you play a video.
Google Chrome and Chromium
There are numerous tips circulating on the internet on how to activate hardware acceleration in Chromium-based browsers. Depending on the program version and desktop environment, you may be successful.
In our tests, we were unable to persuade Google Chrome or Chromium to cooperate. One reason for this is the outdated version of VA-API in Ubuntu and Linux Mint. The browsers do not currently work with AMD graphics chips, regardless of which version is installed. The description therefore only applies to Intel graphics.
Error message in Chromium: Without the latest VA-API version, the browser cannot use hardware acceleration under Linux Mint. An update can provide a remedy.
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If you are not afraid of the effort, you can update the libraries and drivers. To do this, use the script “build_intel_ media.sh” (only for Intel chips). It installs the program packages required for development, downloads the source code to the “$HOME/src” folder, and compiles the files. Then restart Linux.
In the terminal, vainfo now displays VA-API version 1.21 (or higher) (previously: 1.14). Under Linux Mint, set up Chromium as a system package via the application management. Google Chrome does not yet work with the new VA-API, nor does the Snap package from Ubuntu.
Start the browser and play a test video. Open the internal address “chrome://gpu” in another tab. Behind “Video Decode:” it says “Hardware accelerated.” However, this means nothing because Chromium also provides this information if hardware acceleration is only theoretically possible. Detailed information can be found at “chrome://media-internals.”
Click on the link with the addition “(kPlay)” while the video is playing. The “kVideoDecoderName” is followed by “VaapiVideo- Decoder” if GPU acceleration is active.
Retrofitting VA-API for Nvidia
You can already use the VA-API driver under Ubuntu 22.04 or Linux Mint 21. However, you must create the driver yourself from the source code.
The prerequisite is that the proprietary Nvidia driver in version 470, 500 or higher is activated. The VA-API driver is primarily intended for hardware acceleration in Firefox; the function is not guaranteed for other software.
In addition, the driver does not yet work optimally under Wayland and certainly not with Firefox installed as Snap or Flatpak. Linux Mint fulfils these requirements, Ubuntu users follow these instructions.
VA-API with Nividia chip: If the hardware acceleration works in Firefox, Nvidia X Server Settings shows a percentage value behind “Video Engine Utilization”.IDG
To install the Nvidia driver — if not already present — Ubuntu users search for “Drivers” via “Activities” and click on “Additional drivers.”
With Linux Mint, the path leads via “Driver management.” Select the driver with the highest version number and the addition “Proprietary, tested” (Linux Mint “recommended”). Click on “Apply changes” and restart Linux after completing the installation.
To be able to create the VA-API driver, install some packages in the terminal:
sudo apt install build-essential git meson gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad libffmpeg-nvenc-dev libva-dev libegl-dev cmake pkg-config libdrm-dev libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-dev
Then create a working directory and download the source code (four lines):
mkdir ~/src && cd ~/src
wget https://github.com/elFarto/nvidia-vaapi-driver/archive/refs/tags/v0.0.11.tar.gz
tar xvf v0.0.11.tar.gz
cd nvidia-vaapi-driver-0.0.11
Adjust the version numbers if necessary. Then compile and install with
meson setup build
sudo meson install -C build
to compile and install the driver.
Activating the Nvidia VA API driver for Firefox
In order for Linux to load the driver, you must set some environment variables. Open the file “/etc/environment” as administrator in a text editor and add the three lines
export LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia
export MOZ_DISABLE_RDD_SANDBOX=1
export NVD_BACKEND=direct
is added. The last line is currently required for Nvidia drivers from version 525. The Linux kernel must also be informed. Open the text file “/etc/default/ grub” with root authorization and add this option to the line “GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT”
nvidia-drm.modeset=1
Then execute in the terminal
sudo update-grub
and restart Linux for the changes to take effect. You can check the correct function with vainfo. The tool outputs “vainfo: Driver version: VA-API NVDEC driver [direct backend].”
You need to change some settings so that Firefox takes the new driver into account. To be on the safe side, use a new user profile to test the settings first.
In the terminal, start
firefox -P
and create and start a new profile. Call up the “about:config” address and set the following three options
media.ffmpeg.vaapi.enabledmedia.rdd-ffmpeg.enabledwidget.dmabuf.force-enabled
to “true” in each case. Then restart Firefox.
To test the GPU utilization, start Nvidia X Server Settings and click on “GPU 0? ([Nvidia model]).” The values behind “GPU Utilization” and “Video Engine Utilization” increase when hardware acceleration is used. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 13 Dec (PC World)2024 has been a big year for on-device AI in consumer electronics. Both Microsoft and Apple took swings with their respective operating systems, with Microsoft debuting its “Copilot+ PC” branding for AI-capable laptops and Apple releasing Apple Intelligence.
These early examples offered mixed results. Some features, like real-time translations and on-device speech-to-text, can be useful. Others, like Microsoft’s Windows Recall, have yet to prove themselves.
All of this hype for AI has important implications for the new year. 2025 looks set to become the year when mainstream developers make their attempts to add on-device AI to their Windows apps, and that means you’re going to want to pay even closer attention to the AI performance of modern Windows laptops before you buy a new one.
I spoke with two experts in AI research and testing to probe their brains for insights on how Windows on-device AI will grow in 2025.
Big gains are coming for NPUs
If you’re curious about Windows laptops’ AI performance, you’ll likely end up comparing the “TOPS” promised by each laptop model. TOPS (“Trillions of Operations Per Second”) is a measurement of an NPU’s ability to perform matrix multiplications for on-device AI tasks. (Learn more about what an NPU is and why it matters for AI.)
2024 saw big gains in the TOPS performance available from Windows laptops. To qualify for Microsoft’s “Copilot PC+” branding, a Windows laptop must have at least 40 TOPS of NPU performance. For reference, Qualcomm’s first Copilot+ PCs quoted about 45 TOPS — that’s a four-fold uplift over Intel’s “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra 7 165H, which had only quoted 11 TOPS of NPU performance.
Windows Recall on a Copilot+ laptop by Samsung.Microsoft / Samsung
“I think Qualcomm really woke everyone up,” said Karl Freund, founder and principal analyst at Cambrian AI Research. Freund has noted that AMD and Intel have been quick to respond with their own chips, which delivered a similar uplift.
By the end of 2024, shoppers looking for a premium Windows laptop — like a Microsoft Surface, Asus ProArt, or Dell XPS — can expect a roughly three- or four-fold increase in NPU performance compared to similarly premium laptops that were available at the end of 2023. That’s a huge bump up. But will that trend continue into 2025?
Ryan Shrout, president of performance testing lab Signal65, thinks it could. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we see double again, and triple again wouldn’t surprise me.” However, he expects those eventual gains to be weighted more towards the end of next year. “My guess is it will be late 2025, and probably into 2026, when we see the most significant NPU improvements.”
TOPS may not stay on top for long
A potential two- to three-fold improvement for on-device AI performance is significant. However, Freund and Shrout warned it’s best not to give too much credence to the TOPS performances that chip makers quote.
“TOPS really stands for ‘Terribly Overused Performance Stat,`” said Freund. “It doesn’t have a lot of value.”
Shrout agreed, comparing TOPS to the TFLOPS figures that AMD and Nvidia often quote when marketing GPUs. These numbers, which point to a GPU’s maximum possible computation speed, offer surprisingly little insight into actual real-world performance.
Real-world AI performance is currently a bit of a wild card, in part because Windows has yet to coalesce around a single API for tapping an NPU’s AI capabilities. That’s a problem for owners of Copilot+ laptops that lack a Qualcomm chip inside.
Da Vinci Resolve running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptop.Mark Hachman / IDG
Though AMD and Intel have chips that qualify for Copilot+ branding, Qualcomm has enjoyed a favored status so far. Qualcomm machines were the first to receive support for Windows Recall and several popular apps, like Blender and Affinity Photo, which were recently announced to only work on Qualcomm Snapdragon X hardware.
That should change through 2025, however, as Microsoft rallies support for its low-level machine learning API (DirectML) and the Windows Copilot Runtime, which includes several task-specific AI APIs (some of which have yet to be released). For now, it’s clear that Copilot+ PCs leave a lot to be desired and have lots of room for growth coming up.
“I think Microsoft will have this solved in 2025,” said Shrout. “Once application developers attach to DirectML, like they did with DirectX, it will be a solved problem. And I don’t think it will be a problem for long.” Shrout compared it to the early days of 3D on the PC, which initially saw competing APIs but eventually consolidated around the leaders, with Microsoft DirectX becoming the most popular option.
Proving the case for Windows AI
Better NPUs and a unified API that makes it easier for Windows application developers to actually use an NPU’s full performance are both important steps forward, but they don’t necessarily guarantee that on-device AI will become commonplace.
That’s because developers still have the option to turn towards companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, who make their AI models and services available to any device with internet access. And their AI models are still more capable than on-device AI models, able to do more and generate those results far more quickly.
However, those AI models hosted in the cloud have a major downside that will become more relevant in 2025 — price.
“The fact we can have small language models run on an NPU continuously in the background to monitor what’s happening, that’s something the cloud can’t do, or at least would be much more expensive from an infrastructure standpoint,” said Shrout.
CKA / Shutterstock
OpenAI’s recent release of ChatGPT Pro, a new premium tier for power users, seems to drive this point home. ChatGPT Pro provides unlimited access to the company’s new o1 model and priority access to the Sora video generator, but it’s priced at $200 per month. The per-token price paid by app developers to make o1 available to users is similarly steep.
Users and developers who turn to a Windows laptop’s on-device NPU, on the other hand, can essentially use it whenever they want for free. That’s arguably going to be the final brick laid in the road towards on-device AI. Developers and users will have both the tools and incentives to rely on a Windows laptop’s NPU whenever possible to cut costs.
It remains to be seen how quickly the shift towards on-device AI will happen, and to what extent it will proliferate through Windows’ software ecosystem, but it’s likely that 2025 will be a huge turning point.
“I think Qualcomm had it right five years ago when they said AI would move on-device. At first, I was skeptical. But now I’ve become a believer,” said Freund.
Further reading: Free AI tools that run locally on your PC Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | BBCWorld - 12 Dec (BBCWorld)Madi Saskia from Birmingham removed her song from the internet after `horrible` comments. Read...Newslink ©2025 to BBCWorld |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 12 Dec (ITBrief) Fortinet has launched FortiAppSec Cloud, a cloud-based platform designed to enhance web application security and streamline performance management. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 12 Dec (ITBrief) Fortinet has launched FortiAppSec Cloud, a cloud-based platform designed to enhance web application security and streamline performance management. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 12 Dec (ITBrief) Cloudflare`s 2024 Year in Review reveals a 17% rise in global Internet traffic, with Google maintaining its top service status for the third year running. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | PC World - 12 Dec (PC World)Google is rolling out version 2.0 of its Gemini AI model today for the web. But the real news is what Google calls “Deep Research,” which attempts to mimic how actual humans research a subject and develop a report on it.
It’s yet another tool that students have available to them, and one that probably will scare teachers who worry about AI being used for cheating even more.
Google AI-powered search worried content creators because it slurped up content that others had created and passed it off as its own work, with some minimal footnotes to point back at the original authors. Deep Research takes this to another level.
Deep Research takes a prompt and first crafts a research plan, according to Google. Instead of immediately setting out to craft a report, it will first ask you to approve the general outline of the plan. Only then will it set out to actually craft the report, properly footnoted. An example graphic showed Deep Research basically taking the results from over 48 websites and collating them into a finished report. What’s interesting is that Google apparently revamps its report on the fly, crafting new drafts as it discovers new information. Google’s example says that the report takes a “few minutes” to finish up.
“Over the course of a few minutes, Gemini continuously refines its analysis, browsing the web the way you do: searching, finding interesting pieces of information, and then starting a new search based on what it’s learned,” Google said. “It repeats this process multiple times and, once complete, generates a comprehensive report of the key findings, which you can export into a Google Doc. It’s neatly organized with links to the original sources, connecting you to relevant websites and businesses or organizations you might not have found otherwise so you can easily dive deeper to learn more.”
Although we haven’t seen the results first-hand, it sounds like Google at least can mimic the way in which students can research and report on a topic. You’ll just have to pay for it: Deep Research will be part of Gemini Advanced, Google’s $19.99/mo service that includes a Google One membership as well as access to Google’s next-generation AI models. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 12 Dec (PC World)Microsoft continues to test out new ways of showcasing Copilot within Windows. The latest? A compact view that can be opened with the Alt+Space shortcut.
Microsoft is touting the new Copilot app as a “native” app, not just the Progressive Web App (PWA) that Microsoft had transformed Copilot into earlier this year. But there’s no indication that Copilot will run locally on your PC, and Windows Central discovered that the app still just calls Microsoft’s Copilot website.
So what’s new? Not much. The new Copilot opens as a more compact view, and can be opened using the Alt+Space shortcut. (As Microsoft notes, however, other apps may use the Alt+Space shortcut, too, so Microsoft will simply assign the shortcut to whatever app launched first and is running in the background when the shortcut was used.) You can then expand Copilot to a larger size using another button.
It’s a very minor change, although making Copilot a native application may pave the way for future innovation. Let’s hope so.
Microsoft is pushing out the new version of Copilot to Windows Insiders right now. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 12 Dec (PC World)Yesterday was the last Patch Tuesday of 2024, and with it Microsoft has provided a number of security updates, eliminating 71 security vulnerabilities across various Microsoft apps and services.
Microsoft categorizes 16 of these vulnerabilities as “critical” and classifies all but one of the remaining issues as “high risk.” According to the company, one of those Windows security flaws is already being exploited in the wild, so it’s crucial to patch ASAP.
With 1,020 security vulnerabilities patched throughout 2024, this has been the second worst year for Microsoft as far as sheer number of security issues. It was only surpassed once, in 2020, which saw 1,250 security vulnerabilities across the year.
Microsoft offers sparse details on these vulnerabilities in its Security Update Guide. Dustin Childs breaks down Patch Tuesday in a much clearer way on the Trend Micro ZDI blog, always with an eye for admins who manage corporate networks.
Windows security flaws patched
A large proportion of the vulnerabilities — 59 this time around — are spread across the various Windows versions (10, 11, and Server) for which Microsoft still offers security updates.
Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap
Windows 11 Pro
Although Windows 7 and 8.1 are no longer mentioned in security reports, they could still be vulnerable. If your system requirements allow it, you should switch to Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 23H2 to continue receiving security updates. The Windows 11 24H2 update is available, but you might want to hold off until its widespread issues are fixed.
Windows under attack in the wild
According to Microsoft, there are already attacks being made on one particular security vulnerability in Windows. Known as CVE-2024-49138, this buffer overflow issue in the driver of the shared protocol file system has been identified as high risk, allowing an attacker to gain system authorization via elevation of privilege.
In combination with an RCE (Remote Code Execution) security vulnerability, an attacker could gain full control of the Windows system and cause major damage. Such combinations are often seen in ransomware attacks, which are still on the rise today.
Tip: Not only should you be diligently keeping your operating system up to date, but you should also be protecting your PC with reputable antivirus software and VPN software. Check out our top picks for the best Windows antivirus suites and best VPN services.
Other critical Windows security flaws
Microsoft categorizes a total of 16 RCE vulnerabilities in Windows as critical, with the Remote Desktop service alone accounting for nine of them. Even though there are no recorded in-the-wild exploits of these vulnerabilities yet, admins should not ignore them.
The most notable is CVE-2024-49112, an RCE vulnerability in the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) that could allow an attacker to inject code without user login and execute it with elevated privileges. Microsoft recommends disconnecting vulnerable domain controllers from the internet as a mitigation measure against such attacks.
Microsoft also classifies the RCE vulnerability CVE-2024-49117 in Hyper-V as critical. Code from the guest system could break out and be executed on the host system. A simple user login is sufficient for the attacker.
Office security flaws patched
Microsoft has eliminated eight security vulnerabilities in its Office products, including three RCE vulnerabilities. One was in Excel, one was in Access, and the third one (known as CVE-2024-49065) can be exploited via the Outlook preview for file attachments. Fortunately, according to Microsoft, the attacker can’t access user data with this vulnerability, but can prevent its availability.
The first in a long line of AI vulnerabilities?
Microsoft Muzic: AI vulnerabilityMicrosoft
Muzic is an open-source research project by Microsoft that uses deep learning to promote the understanding and creation of music. With CVE-2024-49063, Microsoft has plugged the first of what could be many security flaws in the field of artificial intelligence.
Anyone wondering what AI vulnerabilities might look like: they look like deserialization errors. An attacker can develop malicious code that would be executed when a data stream is converted into an object.
As of December 2024, there’s no new Windows tool for removing malware. The next Patch Tuesday will be on January 14, 2025. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 12 Dec (PC World)Microsoft regularly changes the functions, options, and display of the Start menu in Windows. There are innovations such as a tile layout for the “All” tab. However, the menu also hides important functions, making them more difficult to access.
Windows 11 Pro
In this article, we look at the settings options for the Start menu and how you can customize it to suit your requirements.
Customize the Start menu with Windows settings
By default, you will find the on-board settings options for the Start menu in the Windows settings under Personalization > Start or via Start settings after right-clicking on the Start menu. You can access the settings for the taskbar via Personalization > Taskbar or by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Taskbar settings.
Foundry
In the upper area, you can define the general layout and control how many icons should appear in the Start menu. In the Start menu settings, you can use sliders to specify what Windows 11 should and should not display.
The unsolicited tips and adverts are particularly annoying. You can switch these off by deactivating the option Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more. The same applies to the display of the most recently added apps and most used apps. You can also hide these again by deactivating the corresponding options directly from the Start menu.
If you also do not want to see the most recently opened documents in the Start menu, simply deactivate “Show recommended files in Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists.” The jump lists are the menus that Windows 11 displays when you click on an app icon in the taskbar. Here you can see specific options, such as directly accessing the most recent web pages in Google Chrome or opening the most recently edited documents in Word.
The Start menu also has a jump list. You can call this up by right-clicking on the Start button in the taskbar.
Foundry
Via the menu item Folders, at the bottom of Personalization > Start in the Windows settings, you can make further adjustments to which items Windows 11 should display in the Start menu. For example, you can specify here that the Windows settings, Explorer, or a shortcut to the storage location of your documents should appear directly in the Start menu.
Customize the taskbar to your own requirements
The taskbar settings also affect the Start menu itself in many places. Firstly, you can specify how the search field should appear in the taskbar settings (right-click on the taskbar).
If you search frequently using the Windows search function, it may be useful to activate the Search field option under Taskbar items > Search. If you only search occasionally, then Search icon only is also sufficient. If you do not use the search at all, you can create space in the taskbar by activating Hide.
Foundry
You can also deactivate the display of widgets in Windows and the view of currently launched applications at this point. If you want to display these, you can use the Windows key+Tab key combination instead.
Under Other system tray icons, you can also specify which of the applications you have installed are displayed in the taskbar when they are started.
You can hide apps whose icons you do not want to keep constantly in view by deactivating the respective option. These icons appear when you click on the small arrow at the bottom right of the tray area of the taskbar. If you do not want to see this arrow either, deactivate Hidden icon menu.
You can use Taskbar behaviors to specify where the Start menu should appear. With Left selected under Taskbar alignment, the Start menu appears on the left-hand side of the taskbar, as in previous versions of Windows 11. With Automatically hide taskbar, the taskbar disappears downwards and only reappears when you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen.
Foundry
You can also create more space here with Combine taskbar buttons…, as the individually launched apps do not take up as much space.
Quit crashed programs faster with developer options
The End task option in the context menu of applications in the task list is interesting. If an application crashes or no longer responds properly, you can end its process here.
Previously, this was only possible directly in the Windows 11 Task Manager, which you can also start via the context menu of the taskbar or with the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Esc. However, the option only appears if you switch to System > For developers in the Windows settings and enable the End Task option here. This allows you to end the process directly if the app is no longer working properly.
Foundry
Customize the Start menu directly
If you open the Start menu by left-clicking, you can make further customizations. Firstly, you can remove the icon from the Start menu by right-clicking on individual apps with Remove from Start. The app remains installed and can still be opened via the search and the display of all apps, but no longer appears in the Start menu.
You can also move the app to the front of the Start menu, uninstall, it or call up the app’s settings if it supports this. If the app is also linked in the taskbar, you can remove this icon with Remove from taskbar.
Conversely, you can display apps that do not appear on the main page of the Start menu or the taskbar by right-clicking and selecting Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar in the Start menu and in the taskbar. You can customize the order of the icons displayed in the Start menu using drag-and-drop.
This allows you to move the applications to the position where you want them.
Tools for the Start menu: StartAllBack, Start11, and Classic Shell
With the StartAllBack tool, you can customize the Start menu with an external tool and align it with the Windows 7 design. The Start menu reappears on the left-hand side of the taskbar and is reminiscent of the Windows 7 design. If you want to use the tool permanently, you will have to expect to pay $5 per PC. However, you can use the tool completely free of charge for 100 days.
Another tool in this area is Start11. This also activates the classic Windows 7 view and offers more setting options. After the test phase, the tool costs $10 per PC. You can use Start11 free of charge for 30 days, but you have to register with your email address.
StartAllBack
If you are keen to experiment, you can also use the Classic Shell tool known from Windows 10 in Windows 11. However, the tool has not been released for Windows 11 and is no longer being developed further. However, you can experiment with the free tool at your own risk. It generally also works in Windows 11 24H2, but should only be used by experienced users, as it can also cause Windows to crash. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
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