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      How to Enable Microsoft Edge’s New ‘Kids Mode’

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Friday, 19 February, 2021 - 18:00 · 2 minutes

    Microsoft is testing a new “Kids Mode” for Edge that makes the browser safer for younger users with just a few clicks.

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    Edge already has several family features, but those settings must be manually set up and apply to all users in a family group. Kids Mode, however, can be turned on or off by the parents and comes with heightened security and content filters built-in, including blocked sites, Bing Safe Search, and family-friendly browser themes.

    Kids Mode is still in development, but you can try it out early in the latest Edge Canary build. It will come to the developer build next, then should be available in the stable build sometime in the future. If you download Edge Canary for Kids mode, keep in mind it will install as a separate version of Edge — so if you’re trying to keep your kids away from certain content, you’ll need to make sure they’re using Edge Canary instead of the normal version. It’s also important to note that Edge Canary is full of other unfinished features and settings, which could cause occasional crashes and other errors.

    How to enable Kids Mode

    Whether you test Edge’s Kids Mode out early or wait for it to come to a more stable version, turning it on is easy: Open the browser, then click the Profile image in the upper-right, and select “Kids Mode.”

    With Kids Mode on, Edge will prevent access to a list of pre-determined websites, which can be modified by going to Settings > Family S afety . This menu also includes activity reports and lets you manage all the other profiles and devices used by your family. Bing will also be permanently set to ‘Safe Search’ when the browser is in Kids Mode.

    Finally, Kids Mode can be customised with its own kid-friendly browser themes — just click the settings icon from a new tab and click “Custom, and then “Manage” under “Background Image.”

    [ The Verge ]

    The post How to Enable Microsoft Edge’s New ‘Kids Mode’ appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .

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      Make Microsoft Word’s ‘Dark Mode’ Actually Dark

      pubsub.dcentralisedmedia.com / LifehackerAustralia · Thursday, 11 February, 2021 - 14:00 · 2 minutes

    Microsoft’s Word app has a dark mode that you can use right now, but it’s not as dark as you might prefer it if you’re the kind of person who likes working on projects in the wee hours of the night.

    When you fire up Word normally, this is what you’ll see when you’re using its “Colourful” theme:

    uy5nmu8rqh53on04enlr.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nr=20

    If you go to switch the theme (via File > Options > General > Personalise your copy of Microsoft Office or File > Account > Office Theme ), you’ll be able to pick a slightly darker grey to use:

    k5poxp2ubavp6zii3gho.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nr=20

    And even a straight-up black setting, the app’s “dark mode” as it currently exists:

    ygdydhd02vuay0wfoheb.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nr=20

    Even in dark mode, you have a big-arse hunk of white staring you in the face: the very page you’re working on. It kind of takes away the purpose of having a dark mode.

    While you can certainly change this yourself using the Page Colour option under Design , that modifies the document for all who view it. And it’s possible that whoever you’re sending your work to might not want white text on a black background.

    To get around this, Microsoft is testing a new dark mode iteration for Word that turns the page black, if that’s your preference — but only as a viewing mode. That document will still look normal in whatever viewing mode another person has set up for themselves.

    To get to this feature, you’ll need to first sign up to be an Office Insider. You’ll find that option within the Account window on your main Office screen:

    fzp4aeiyap7wowuibtp8.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nr=20

    Sign up for the Beta Insider channel, rather than the Preview insider channel, and then click on the Update Options box on your Account screen to download whatever updates Word asks of you. You’ll now be “on the cutting edge,” as Microsoft says:

    bizgqnip5yf68yestldc.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nrs=30

    Close Word and reopen it. From there, head back to File > Options , and set your theme to Black once again. You should now see a blissful black background that you can type on:

    r3apcqvedemobtvsaosj.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nr=20

    And if you want to switch back to a white page at any point, simply pull up the View tab in your document and click on the new Switch Modes button:

    bd1t7js0igzmvh6xjpn6.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=65&nrs=40
    trnqu3yys1fpdqxjzf5k.png?auto=format&fit=fill&q=80&w=1280&nrs=30

    The post Make Microsoft Word’s ‘Dark Mode’ Actually Dark appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .