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      Microsoft accidentally leaks internal utility for testing new Windows 11 features

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 3 August, 2023 - 16:16 · 1 minute

    Microsoft accidentally leaks internal utility for testing new Windows 11 features

    Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

    When Microsoft releases new test builds of Windows, there are usually a handful of features that are announced but only actually enabled for a small subset of testers. Sometimes it’s because the company is A/B testing a couple of different versions of the same thing or because Microsoft wants to roll out major changes to a few users before rolling them out to everyone.

    Users normally have little control over whether new features actually appear in their Windows beta installs, but Microsoft has internal software called StagingTool that its own developers can use to switch things on and off themselves. And now StagingTool has leaked to the public, thanks to a “bug bash” the company is running this week to find and fix problems before the next big batch of new Windows features releases this fall.

    As reported by The Verge , some bug bash participants were sent on “quests” that explicitly mentioned using the StagingTool to turn on specific features. Those quests and the tool itself have since been removed from Microsoft’s servers, but StagingTool is already being freely distributed among Windows enthusiasts who want more control over the features they see (Microsoft's official link is dead, and you should be careful when using third-party download links for any kind of executable file).

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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 .