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By Aditya Tiwari · Posted
Google Maps expands cycling routes and alerts for low-emission zones in Europe by Aditya Tiwari Google announced some new Google Maps updates for users in Europe. These features are meant to help them get around more sustainably and reduce emissions in cities, according to the search giant. For starters, Google is expanding its AI-powered feature that predicts when walking or taking transit will take roughly the same amount of time as driving. Currently available in 60 cities, the feature recommends walking or transit routes and has helped avoid tens of millions of car trips. It will soon launch in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Warsaw, and other cities. Speaking of car trips, Google displays helpful alerts when a car enters an area designated as a low-emission or low-traffic zone in supported cities, such as London and Berlin. It informs users whether their vehicle is permitted in these zones, and they should select an alternative route if necessary. The feature will expand to more than 1,000 low-emission and low-traffic zones across Europe in the coming months, including Italy, Sweden, Austria, and other countries. For those interested in cycling on the roads, Maps will display helpful details about routes in more places. Riders will see bike lanes on their cycling route, as well as other useful information, such as whether there is heavy car traffic or a steep incline ahead. The feature will expand to 17 new cities, including nine in Europe, which will cover about 125,000 km (77,671 miles) of bike lanes globally. Google has partnered with local governments and public authorities in cities such as Hamburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Budapest, Vienna, and Brussels to source the data. Additionally, Google announced that fuel-efficient routing, also known as eco-friendly routing, is now available globally. As the name suggests, it finds the most fuel or energy-efficient route for your trip. The feature was introduced in 2021, starting with the US, and later expanded to over 40 countries across Europe in its first major update in 2022. On average, about 500 million trips using fuel-efficient routing are taken each month. Google estimated that the feature collectively resulted in "more than 2.7 million metric tons of GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions avoided in 2024 alone," which is equivalent to taking "more than 630,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year." -
By excalpius · Posted
That's one impressive "baby step". Well done! -
By DramaInc · Posted
They're already dead. They've been through many rounds off layoffs due to mismanagement and Destiny 2 is basically over as the interest levels are the lowest theyve ever been. -
By TarasBuria · Posted
Redesigned Windows 11 Start menu: What users wanted and what Microsoft delivered by Taras Buria Windows 11 is getting a redesigned Start menu. This is a big deal for the soon-to-be-four-year-old operating system and its highly controversial design bits. After years of slow to no progress in the Start menu area, Microsoft is finally delivering a much better variant with many new features and plenty of feedback addressed. How much has been addressed? In 2023, we posted a list of the "Top 10 Start menu features and changes Windows 11 users want," so it is now time to compare that to the new Start menu. Note: The new Start menu is not yet publicly available. Microsoft is testing it in Windows 11 preview builds from the Dev and Beta Channels, and you can check out this article to learn how to enable it so that you can try it yourself. 1. Allow users to turn off the "Recommended" section - Delivered (17K+ upvotes) Round of applause for Microsoft, everyone, as the company actually delivered the most requested Start menu feature. The redesigned variant lets you turn off the Recommended section and hide it altogether so that it does not waste any space. Recommended section, begone!2. More customization options - Nope (5.4K+ upvotes) Although Microsoft now allows turning off the Recommended section and switching between three views for the All apps list, the menu remains quite restricted when it comes to personalization, so if you want true customization, Windhawk and the Start menu styler mod are here for you, allowing some seriously cool Start menu designs, as one on the screenshot below: 3. Allow resizing the Start menu - Sort of delivered (3.8K+ upvotes) You still cannot change the size of the Start menu manually like you could in Windows 10. However, the menu is now more adaptive, which means you will see more content if you have a bigger screen. Still, I would like to have the ability to make the menu bigger, so this one remains standing. 4. Go back to the Windows 10-style Start menu - Nope (3.4K+ upvotes) Microsoft is not going back to the Windows 10 Start menu, so if you are one of the 3,400+ people who upvoted this in Feedback Hub, your best course of action is to install a third-party Start menu or just stick to Windows 10. 5. Use Grid view for the All apps list - Delivered (1.5K+ upvotes) Another popular request was delivered fully. I would even say that Microsoft over delivered it. Instead of just killing the standard list view in favor of grid view, Microsoft let users decide what kind of view they want. You can stick to the classic list, switch over to grid view, or enjoy a categorized view. Again, well done! 6. Display jump lists when right-clicking pinned apps - Needs fixing (1K+ upvotes) Microsoft has already fixed this problem, and you can access jump lists and recent files by right-clicking pinned applications in the current Start menu version. However, turning off the Recommended section also turns off jump lists on the Start menu and taskbar for some reason. A very frustrating design for those who use jump lists and do not want the Recommended section. This needs fixing. Microsoft punishes you with no jump lists if you dare to turn off "Recommended." Why?7. Make the Start menu open on the All apps list by default - Delivered (1K+ upvotes) The new Start menu ticks this box as well. There is no need to click "All apps" when you open the Start menu. It now features a single-view user interface with the list of all apps right below your pins and recommendations. All you need to do is start scrolling. 8. Add a full-screen Start menu - Nope (1K+ upvotes) Even though Microsoft "has got this," nothing indicates that the company plans to reintroduce a full-screen Start menu from the days of Windows 10 and Windows 8. A shame, if you ask me. Interestingly, it appears that Microsoft considered a full-screen Start menu for Windows 11. The company recently showed some of the prototypes it considered implementing, including a scrollable full-screen menu. 9. Bring back live tiles - Nope (1K+ upvotes) Tiles are no longer alive. They are as dead as Windows Phone, and there is no return. 10. Make the Start menu button follow the system accent color - Nope (760+ upvotes) Microsoft "has got this," but the blue Start button is here to stay. Do you like what Microsoft did to Windows 11's Start menu? What features are still missing in your opinion? Share your thoughts in the comments. -
By Steven P. · Posted
$15 per user is such BS.
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