


The suite of PowerToys continued on through Windows XP, but mostly died off with the move to Windows 7 and beyond (with the exception of SyncToy, a file synchronization app that still works even in Windows 10).īut those who miss those sometimes useful, sometimes quirky, and always nostalgic utilities are in for a treat: Microsoft is bringing back PowerToys, this time as open source projects on GitHub. These utilities varied in terms of usefulness and quality, but many of them offered interesting capabilities for improving the workflow of the “power users” for whom they were targeted.Įxamples of those original PowerToys included FlexiCD, which let users control the playback of an audio CD from the taskbar, Quick Res, which allowed for quick screen resolution changes, Xmouse, which would automatically shift window focus based on the cursor position, and arguably the best-known PowerToy, TweakUI, which granted access to dozens of user interface customization options.

ARM support to become available at a later date. The installer will handle this if not present. Windows users of a certain age may fondly remember Microsoft PowerToys, a set of freeware utilities first shipped alongside Windows 95. Windows 11 or Windows 10 v1903 (18362) or newer.NET Core 3.1.20 Desktop Runtime or a newer 3.1.x runtime. That's simple if you want to split the screen into even halves or quadrants, but for more unique shapes you're shit out of luck if you're on Windows 10.New Utilities in the Spirit of the Original PowerToys At the end of the work day I wanted to be able to close those extra browser windows and shut off my secondary monitor, and then get them back in the same exact window sizes and positions the next day. After years of being the go-to resource for people who know less about computer than I do, sometimes I forget that just because I don't know how to do something doesn't mean it can't be done.Ī few months ago I was making the transition from using one monitor day-to-day to two, in an effort to stop myself from maximizing and minimizing Slack and Twitter every 30 seconds. In PowerToys Settings, find and click FancyZones from the left-side menu. I'm good at computer-I know where to find deeply buried menus in Windows, what cables to jiggle when something isn't working, what drivers to check when jiggling the cable doesn't do anything. Right-click PowerToys in the system tray and click Settings.
