Windows Help & Advice – May 2019

Windows 1

60 customisation tip

May 2019 | |^19

Appearance Settings > System Font
screen. Log out and back in again to
see the effect.

Reduce window clutter
You’ve added tabs to File Explorer, how
about grouping application windows in
a single multi-tabbed window, too?
TidyTabs (www.nurgo-software.com)
lets you drag up to three windows on
top of each other to group them, then
use the tabs to switch. Upgrade to the
Pro version (a measly $9/£7) and you can
automatically group windows from the
same application together, plus group
more than three windows at once.

Get the Aero glass look
If you’re a tech-savvy Windows 8.1 user,
head to http://www.glass8.eu/ to download
Aero Glass for Windows 8 if you’d like to
restore the translucent Aero effects from

Windows 7. Aero Glasstechnicallyworks

with Windows 10 too,althoughwe

haven’t had muchluckingettingany

of the effects to work.

Try a new shell

The most radical changeyoucanmake

to Windows is to replacethedefault

shell with anotherone.Oneofthe

simplest to deployisCairo(https://

cairodesktop.com/) – during

installation, leave thedefaultsettings

so it installs alongsideFileExplorer

and not in place ofit.

Set up apps

After installation, CairoopenstheApp

Grabber to enableyoutochoosewhich

app shortcuts to addtothePrograms

menu at the top ofthescreen.Drag

those you want intotheleft-handpane,

then click Continuetoplacethemin

sub-folders such as ‘System tools’ or

Office. Click ‘Finish’.

Use the menu bar

Cairo’s menu bar offers shortcuts to

Programs, Places (user folders, This PC,

Program Files and the Recycle bin),

Documents and Downloads. There are

various system tools and shortcuts on

the right – click ‘<’ to reveal your Taskbar

notification area icons. Click the Cairo

menu button in the top left-hand corner

for a slimmed-down Start menu (plus

access to Cairo’s settings, or choose Exit

Cairo to return to the regular desktop).

Navigate folders with Cairo

You’ll see a list of files and folders on the

desktopthatcorrespondtothoseon

yourdesktop.Afloatingbarenablesyou

tochangethefoldershownusingthe

navigationbuttonstomoveupand

downthefoldertree,gobacktothe

‘home’desktopfolderorjumptoa

differentfolder.

Cairo’s dock

Last,butnotleast,isCairo’sdock–

itsreplacementfortheTaskbar.It

exclusivelydisplaysshortcuticonsand

openwindows– clicktoopen,right-

clickformoreoptionsor‘=’toopenTask

Viewfora previewofopenwindows.Q

1
Download
and install
Get the trial version of WindowBlinds
from http://www.stardock.com/products/
windowblinds – after installation,
choose the 30-day trial and enter your
email address. Once activated, pick a
style from the Style section of the
program to preview it.

2

Modify skin

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changes – work through the Colours,

Transparency, Textures and Fonts sections

to customise it exactly the way you want

it to look. Aching to recreate the old

Windows 7 glass-like style? Select

‘Diamond’ and choose ‘One click blur’

under Transparency.

3

Apply new skin

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changes in WindowBlinds, click ‘Stop

modifying’ followed by ‘Apply style to

desktop’. After a short pause you’ll see

the Windows desktop update. Continue

making tweaks – increase transparency

using the sliders, for example – and

apply them in real-time. Q

Transform your desktop with WindowBlinds

When choosing a

new system font, it’s

important it’s legible.

Cooper doesn’t fall

into that category.

The Cairo desktop offers a completely different way

of navigating and working with your PC.