Another thing to do with Windows 10...Stop the Office Ads!

Windows 10 is awesome. Its Action Center notifications are awesome, too. But shortly after you upgrade to Microsoft’s new operating system, you’ll find it doing something that’s not very awesome at all: spitting out notifications—ads, really—cajoling you to buy or upgrade Office. That’s one of them above.

Yuck.

Fortunately, disabling the ads is incredibly simple. The only tricky part is identifying where they’re coming from, but we’ve got you covered. The culprit is the new Get Office app that comes preinstalled on Windows 10.

Sayonara, Get Office.

There are a few different ways you can disable the Get Office notifications. If you never plan to take advantage of the Office discounts available in the app, the scorched-earth approach gets the job done quickly. Simply open the Start menu’s All Apps list, right-click on the Get Office app, and select Uninstall. You’ll be asked to confirm the deletion; do so. Boom! Done.

But there’s another way to silence those annoying ads without wiping Get Office from your operating system. Open the Start menu and head to Settings > System > Notifications & actions. Scroll down to the “Show notifications from these apps” section and slide the Get Office app’s slider to off. Again: done!

While you’re busy basking in all the sweet, sweet silence, considering checking out PCWorld’s guides to Windows 10 best tips and tricks and 12 obscure new Windows 10 features that eliminate everyday hassles. Things only get better once you’ve muffled Get Office.

5 things to do after you install Windows 10

Windows users, it’s time to breathe a collective sigh of relief. After what seemed like an eternity trapped in the clutches of Windows 8, Microsoft’s latest and greatest operating system is finally here to save us.

Tech bloggers the world over have sung Windows 10 praise. Is it really that great, or is it just that anything is better than the nightmare that was Windows 8? Who cares? Install it right now and you’ll never have to deal with Windows 8 again.

In a recent post, we told you how to skip the queue and install Windows 10 right now. Your job isn’t done once you’ve got it installed, however, because there are a few things you need to make sure you take care of right away.

DON’T MISS: 5 awful Windows 8 problems that are fixed in Windows 10

Kill Wi-Fi sharing

By default, Windows 10 is set up to share your Internet connection over Wi-Fi. This is a nifty feature if you want it, and a dangerous one if you don’t. To be on the safe side, you should probably just disable it right from the get-go.

Open the Settings app from the taskbar or Start Menu, then open Change Wi-Fi settings and click Manage Wi-Fi settings. Now, uncheck all the boxes under “For networks I select, share them with.”

You may also want to slide the toggles to off underneath “Connect to suggested open hotspots” and “Connect to networks shared by my contacts.”

Customize the Start Menu

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! The Start Menu is back!

It’s OK, you can get excited. We won’t judge. Once you get past the simple fact that the Start Menu is there, however, it’s time to begin making the most of it.

We published a big post on Wednesday about customizing the Start Menu, and we highly suggest that you check it out. In it, you’ll learn how to add and remove tiles, how to enable and disable live tiles, how to resize the entire Start Menu and how to change its appearance.

Manage restarts

I switched from Windows to OS X as my primary desktop operating system eight or nine years ago, though I still used both for a while. Now, the only regular interaction I have with Windows (aside from testing it for BGR) is when friends and family call me for help because something is broken.

This happens all the time. As great as Windows 10 is compared to Windows 8, I don’t expect these calls to end anytime soon. And of course, four out of every five frantic calls I get are resolved with the same fix: A restart.

People… when something goes wrong with your computer, restarting is the first thing you should try. In fact, you should be restarting your computer regularly if you don’t shut it down each night. That said, automatic restarts after software updates that are unexpected can be very annoying. So here’s an important setting to tweak:

In the Advanced update section within Settings, select Advanced Windows Update options. Then, in the drop-down menu at the top, choose “Notify to schedule restart.”

This way, your computer will still restart regularly whenever updates are installed, but you’ll get a warning first.

Meet the Action Center

Microsoft’s spin on Apple’s Notification Center is called the Action Center. It might not be the most original feature in the world, but it’s quite useful and we listed it among the five best fixes for annoying problems in Windows 8. Live tiles are nifty, but having one location for all of your notifications is a welcome change.

Seriously, get to know the new Action Center.

Don’t let notifications own you

As great as the new Action Center is, however, think of it like an iPhone. If you give every app carte blanche access to notifications, you’ll lose your mind. Instead, you want to analyze things on a per-app basis and choose which apps can pop up notifications and which should stay quiet.

In Windows 10, you can adjust notifications settings by clicking the notifications icon in the system tray. The click All settings, followed by System and then Notifications & actions. Here, you’ll be able to pick and choose which apps can display notifications and which ones cannot. You’ll also be able to tweak a few additional settings pertaining to notifications.

Comcast vs. Youtube....Good Luck Comcast!

For many of us, YouTube is the first place we go for streaming video. It has everything, after all, from music videos to clips from late-night talk shows to cats doing adorable things. Comcast wants to try and change that: According to Business Insider, the cable and media behemoth is working on a streaming service of its own, which it calls Watchable.

According to the report, Comcast has teamed up with a number of media companies—such as The Onion, BuzzFeed, Vox, and Vice—to “come up with a widespread digital-video platform that will rival YouTube and Facebook’s online video efforts.” (Incidentally, Comcast recently invested $200 million in Vox Media and BuzzFeed, as Fortune points out.)

You won't have to wait too long for Watchable to arrive, either. Variety reports that Watchable should arrive “in the coming weeks," though only a limited subset of users may get it at first as Comcast works out any kinks. 

The service will be available through Comcast’s newer X1 cable boxes, according to Business Insider, and Comcast hopes to upgrade all its cable subscribers to the X1 boxes “in the next few years.”

If you aren't an Xfinity subscriber, or if you don't have an X1 box, you'll still be able to access Watchable: Variety reports that non-subscribers will be able to get at Watchable via a website—much like how you can visit YouTube.com today. 

The story behind the story: As you might expect, Comcast’s foray into streaming media is likely all about the money. By providing a streaming service of its own, complete with high-quality content, Comcast has a chance to prevent its subscribers from defecting to other services, as Variety notes. 

Ad revenue from streaming media is the other piece of the puzzle, and it’s growing at an explosive rate. Back in May, research firm IHS said that online video ad revenue hit $11.2 billion in 2014, and expects it to hit $19 billion by 2019. Getting into the streaming game could allow Comcast to get a slice of that rapidly growing pie. 

Just as I get Amazon Prime...they crack down on sharing...

Do you share your Amazon Prime account with several people? Get ready to choose a favorite, because the online retail giant is cracking down on Prime moochers.

Previously, Amazon allowed Prime members to share their accounts with up to four household members. The idea was to allow people living under the same roof to use one Prime account, but of course, people shared their accounts with friends and far-flung family members, too.

Going forward, you can only share your Amazon Prime account with one person rather than four, though you can add up to four children without Amazon accounts. If you link your account, you'll also have to share credit and debit card information, so make sure you really trust your new Prime buddy.

"Both adult account holders need to authorize each other to use credit and debit cards associated with their Amazon accounts for purchases on Amazon," the company said. "This will not affect either of their current payment settings, but each adult will be able to copy the credit and debit cards of the other account to his or her Amazon account and use them for purchases with Amazon."

Amazon Student Prime members and invited guests of other Prime members can't share their accounts, Amazon said. Amazon Mom members can share accounts as long as one of the adults is a Prime member.

Those who are eligible can share Prime shipping benefits, access to Prime Instant Video streaming, Kindle Owners' Lending Library, and Prime Early Access. With Prime video streaming, you can stream two videos at the same time using the same Amazon.com account, but only stream the same video to one device at a time.

Last month, Amazon held an Amazon Prime Day sale in celebration of its 20th anniversary. But it was largely an effort to get people to sign up for the $99 per year Prime, since only Prime members could take advantage of the discounts.

Windows 10 is spying on almost everything you do – here’s how to opt out

Windows 10 is amazing. Windows 10 is fantastic. Windows 10 is glorious. Windows 10 is faster, smoother and more user-friendly than any Windows operating system that has come before it. Windows 10 is everything Windows 8 should have been, addressing nearly all of the major problems users had with Microsoft’s previous-generation platform in one fell swoop.

But there’s something you should know: As you read this article from your newly upgraded PC, Windows 10 is also spying on nearly everything you do.

It’s your own fault if you don’t know that Windows 10 is spying on you. That’s what people always say when users fail to read through a company’s terms of service document, right?

Well, here is Microsoft’s 12,000-word service agreement. Some of it is probably in English. We’re pretty sure it says you can’t steal Windows or use Windows to send spam, and also that Microsoft retains the right to take possession of your first-born child if it so chooses. And that’s only one of several documents you’ll have to read through.

Actually, here’s one excerpt from Microsoft’s privacy statement that everyone can understand:

Finally, we will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to: 1.comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies; 2.protect our customers, for example to prevent spam or attempts to defraud users of the services, or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone; 3.operate and maintain the security of our services, including to prevent or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or 4.protect the rights or property of Microsoft, including enforcing the terms governing the use of the services – however, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property of Microsoft, we will not inspect a customer’s private content ourselves, but we may refer the matter to law enforcement.

If that sentence sent shivers down your spine, don’t worry. As invasive as it is, Microsoft does allow Windows 10 users to opt out of all of the features that might be considered invasions of privacy. Of course, users are opted in by default, which is more than a little disconcerting, but let’s focus on the solution.

Rock Paper Shotgun has broken things down into four main bullet points that will guide you through regaining control of your personal data.

First, you’ll want to open Settings and click on Privacy. There, you’ll find 13 different screens — yes, 13 — to go through, and you’ll want to disable anything that seems worrying. The blog notes that most of the important settings can be found on the General tab, though other tabs are important as well. For example, you’ll definitely want to adjust what types of data each app on your system can access.

Next, users should consider dumping Cortana. Yes, the voice-driven assistant is easily one of the best new features in Windows 10, but it also plays fast and loose with your data. As a result, many users will find that the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

For the third task, you’ll have to venture outside the confines of your PC and hit the web. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to check out Microsoft’s nifty new Edge browser. In it, click on this link and set both “Personalised ads in this browser” and “Personalised ads wherever I use my Microsoft account” to off. This will disable Microsoft’s Google-style ad tracking features.

The last tip is one that most users will likely forgo, as it is a bit excessive. Rock Paper Shotgun recommends removing your Microsoft account from Windows 10 completely and using a newly made local account instead. This way, Microsoft doesn’t grab hold of all your data to sync it across machines. To us that’s a great and useful feature, but if you want to kill it just follow the link below in our source section for complete instructions and plenty more details.

If you are between 18-49, YouTube is more popular than cable!

YouTube is giving cable TV a run for its money.  

The popular video-sharing platform -- which was acquired by Google in 2006 -- reaches more 18- to 49-year-olds in America than any U.S. cable network, said Google's chief business officer, Omid Kordestani, during an earnings conference call on July 16. 

Despite increasing competition from Facebook, YouTube has seen a steep increase in its user engagement metrics. Visitors to YouTube's homepage are now up over three times year-over-year, per Kordestani. Meanwhile, "watch time" -- how much time users actually spend viewing videos -- is up 60 percent, the fastest growth rate the company has seen in two years. 

Much of the site's traction comes from mobile, Kordestani said: The average viewing session on mobile devices has more than doubled compared to last year, rising to a record 40 minutes per session.

YouTube's increasing popularity among the younger demographics is part of what Kordestani called a revolution of "the television experience for the digital age."

For younger audiences in particular, the video-sharing website has become a platform to discover new content, thanks to new features such video suggestions and auto-play. 

According to a recent study by Miner & Co. Studio, tablets and smartphones are replacing television as kids' screen of choice. Fifty-seven percent of parents say their child prefers a device other than TV to watch video content, and nearly one in two parents say they punish their kids by taking away their smartphones and only allowing them to watch TV. 

 Along with YouTube, other video-streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are challenging the traditional TV landscape. According to a report by Deloitte released in April, more than 42 percent of American households use video-streaming services, as an increasing number people are now watching TV shows on smartphones, tablets and computers.

Unsurprisingly, millennials are leading the change in viewing habits: Only 58 percent of people under 25 say they value traditional cable television, compared to 89 percent of adults ages 49-67, per Deloitte. 

You will find more statistics at Statista

As video-streaming services like YouTube and Netflix continue to gain momentum, original programming has become a crucial factor in people's device of choice. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released in 2013, 63 percent of U.S. adults say original content is a key reason why they select a particular subscription service over another. 

Times are a-changing.