Microsoft PowerToys is an application aimed to increase productivity by providing the user with a set of tools and offerings.  

Originally introduced in the 1990s and resurrected for Windows 10, PowerToys are a collection of free, open-source utilities designed to enhance your Windows experience. Whether you’re a power user or simply looking to streamline your workflow, PowerToys offers a suite of tools that can make your computer usage more efficient and enjoyable.  

There have been a few new tools and updates showcased in the Microsoft Build 2024 conference. Here is a list of the most notable features with PowerToys so far: 

PowerToys – Mouse Without Borders 

If you use multiple machines at once and don’t want to fiddle around with setting up a KVM, this feature is for you!  

This will let you control up to 4 computers using just 1 machine. It allows a set of machines to use the same keyboard and mouse as well as share the clipboard between machines. You are also able to transfer files less than 100MB between machines. The initial setup is minimal and hassle-free. 

PowerToys – Advanced Paste 

PowerToys Advanced Paste is a versatile tool that allows you to paste text from your clipboard in various formats such as plain text, markdown, or JSON. You can do this directly through the user interface or by using a keyboard shortcut. All these actions are performed locally on your machine.  

Moreover, the tool offers an optional AI-powered feature, which you can enable by entering an OpenAI key in the settings.  

The paste text with AI is based on the context of the text that is copied and provided to the OpenAI API. Note that this feature requires a key to be provided in the PowerToys settings as well as available credits in your account. Below are some examples of how this feature is used. 

• Summarize text: Copy long text to the clipboard and ask the AI to provide a summary. 

• Translate text: Copy text in one language to the clipboard and request the AI to translate it into another language. 

• Generate code: Copy a description of a function to the clipboard and have the AI generate the corresponding code. 

• Transform text: Copy text to the clipboard and ask the AI to rewrite it in a specific style, such as a professional email or a casual message. 

• Stylize text: Copy text to the clipboard and request the AI to rewrite it in the style of a well-known author, book, or speaker.

PowerToys – Always on Top 

When you activate Always On Top, it will pin the specified window to the foreground above all other windows. It will stay pinned and focused until you disable the tool.  

This tool is especially useful when having to click back and forth through multiple Windows. Regardless of already having 2 monitors, I can’t seem to have enough screen space for all my windows. Although it seems not as impressive as using AI to generate text, it definitely comes in handy! 

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