Microsoft Edge can’t take a hint: The browser is importing your Chrome browsing data and tabs without asking. Luckily, you can stop it. When you see the pop-up from Edge to Enhance your browsing experience with Copilot in Microsoft Edge, click the tiny white X in the upper right corner and close it. (It’s tiny — you might have to squint to see it.)
3 map apps that are better than Google if you have multiple stops
When you get in the car for a trip, work meeting, or run an errand, it’s never as simple as traveling from Point A to Point B. Sometimes, there are also points C, D, E, F, and G. To make matters more complicated, the route you take could mean a massive difference in time and money.
Google Maps does this, but it isn’t easy to set up. As we’ve reported, there are issues with Google Maps, like fake listings and that it tracks your every move and collects data on you.
There are great apps for both Apple and Android to give commuters, travelers and everyday drivers a choice other than Google Maps. Check out these three that we’ve picked out for you.
Optimized routing for business and delivery drivers
To find the best route for multiple destinations, check out the Route4Me Route Planner app. All you need to do is enter an address or ZIP code to find the optimum route to all of your stops. You’ll save your sanity, valuable time and better yet, gas.
RELATED: This app helps you get where you’re going without tracking you using GPS
See for yourself how it works.
The app is available for Android and Apple devices. Get the Route4Me app from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The free app includes 10 routes per month, and you can purchase a monthly or annual plan for unlimited routes. Check your app store for the latest plan fees.
How AI can help you parent
Being a mom or dad can be tough, but AI chatbots like ChatGPT, CoPilot, or Gemini can help.
🚨 Windows alert: Microsoft is rolling out its nosy Recall feature for Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. The tool records almost everything on your screen to help you find files or websites you’ve accessed. After backlash over privacy concerns, the data will be encrypted and snapshots of sensitive info won’t be taken — but I still wouldn’t trust it. Recall is opt-in only, so you can skip it … for now.
🤑 Work for or volunteer at a nonprofit? Score free or discounted Microsoft 365, aka Office and all the Copilot AI tools. Hit this page to see if you qualify. To apply for a grant, have your legal identifier, physical address and contact info on hand.
Busted by a bot: A New York judge roasted an expert witness who used Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot to assess the damages in a real estate case. The witness couldn’t explain how it works, forgot the prompts he used and didn’t know where the info came from. When the court tested it, they got three different estimates. Nail in the coffin: The bot itself says outputs should always be verified by experts. D’oh.
Plane crazy: Microsoft’s new Copilot Vision will “see what you see” if you’re using the Edge browser. The AI answers questions, summarizes content or tells you what to do. It’ll be entirely optional (you’ll need to opt in to use it), with a visual indicator when it’s on. It’s probably best if you turn it off, though, for those, you know, potentially embarrassing moments.
Nerd alert: OpenAI’s Codex (the engine behind GitHub Copilot) provides AI-powered assistance for coding and can help you write, debug and optimize code across various programming languages.
⚡️ Not everything can be AI: Microsoft says to advertise as an “AI PC,” computers need three things: Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot (how convenient), a special Copilot button on the keyboard (OK, sure) and an NPU (NP‑who?). The NPU, or Neural Processing Unit, is a processor specially designed for machine learning algorithms. Will that make them work better than a regular PC? TBD.
Clippy’s back …: … Kind of. Winpilot, a third-party tool that helps optimize your Windows OS, now includes a built-in assistant called — you guessed it — Clippy. Much like the original Office 97 assistant, it mostly assists with stuff you can do already in your Settings menu. But it can help you remove Windows 11’s built-in AI assistant, Copilot. Assistant-on-assistant crime: You hate to see it.
Get what you want from AI
ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini can be super useful for a bunch of tasks. Let me show you how to give them effective prompts.
Don’t buy a Surface tablet: Microsoft is dropping the first “AI PCs” on March 21. The OLED Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are decked out with next-gen processors, upgraded displays, and all the AI bells and whistles. Copilot essentially turns everything you do on the PC into something you can search for later. Feature or flaw? That’s up to you.
Get it together: Microsoft’s beefing up its Copilot AI chatbot for Excel and Outlook. They say it’ll make life easier for finance pros, but hold the applause. The latest version of Outlook sends unencrypted passwords, emails, contacts, calendar details and even passwords straight to Microsoft’s servers when you add a new email account. No fix yet, so stick to using Outlook’s web version for now, not the desktop client.