Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Which version of Linux is most like Windows?

Posted on November 17, 2022

Question from Jules K.: The hard drive on my fairly old, but awesome Acer laptop died and I bought a 500GB SSD to replace it.

Since I have to reinstall the operating system anyway I’m seriously considering installing Linux on it instead of Windows 7 (I still have the Window 7 CD) since Microsoft is no longer supporting it.

The only thing I use this laptop for is keeping up with several of my favorite websites so I’m not really worried about running any Windows programs on it.

If I decide to forge ahead with Linux I’d really like to install the version that looks and works the most like Windows. Can you tell me which version that is? [Read more…]

Looking for a good PDF editor for your Linux PC?

Posted on November 16, 2022

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

I’m often asked to recommend a good PDF editor that runs on Linux PCs, and as luck would have it, there are several excellent ones to choose from.

If you’re looking for a good PDF editor for your own Linux machine, here’s a little secret that you might not know… [Read more…]

How to make your Instagram messages disappear after they’ve been read

Posted on November 14, 2022

If you’ve ever used SnapChat you’re probably familiar with how received messages simply disappear after they have been read.

Well, now Instagram’s Chat tool has a similar feature called ‘Vanish Mode’.

[Read more…]

How to quickly lock down ALL of Windows 10’s privacy settings

Posted on November 9, 2022

As you probably know by now, Windows 10 is a nightmare when it comes to privacy.

Truth be told, if you accept all of Windows 10’s default privacy settings you won’t have much privacy at all while you’re using your PC.

There are almost two dozen important privacy settings that need to be changed in order to lock down your privacy as much as possible, but unfortunately they’re scattered all over the place throughout your Windows 10 installation. [Read more…]

7 ways to get a second opinion after a clean antivirus scan

Posted on November 7, 2022

Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter

Do you always get a warm, fuzzy feeling after your latest malware scan responds with “Scan complete. No malware found!“?

Most folks do, and I must admit that I feel pretty good about those kinds of reports myself.

But I’m going to share a little secret with you…

[Read more…]