MakeUseOf

I switched from GNOME to KDE Plasma 6 and I'm not going back to Ubuntu defaults

Afam Onyimadu — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:30:17 GMT

When I installed and booted into Ubuntu GNOME, I stuck to the defaults, and that was fine for a while. Even though GNOME is a clean, minimal, and modern setup, it was far from perfect. Certain extensions broke, and even something as basic as waking from sleep often felt sluggish.

I bought the wrong "HDMI to USB-C" cable three times before learning this one thing

Shaun Cichacki — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:00:17 GMT

When you walk into your local big-box store to pick up a new HDMI or DisplayPort cable, you can typically grab one off the shelf without thinking twice, right? HDMI to HDMI works exactly as you'd expect, and the same goes for its more PC-centric counterpart. Heck, even a DisplayPort-to-HDMI converter will work exactly as you expect when you plug it in, providing a beautiful picture on any display.

There are Android brightness settings past the slider that I wish someone had told me about sooner

Brady Snyder — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:30:17 GMT

Brightness is a smartphone display spec that seems to change every single year. The screen size, resolution, and refresh rate go unchanged for multiple smartphone generations, but manufacturers often give the maximum brightness a bump yearly to make you feel like you're getting something new. It's not a pointless upgrade — brightness is crucial to enjoying your phone daily. You want a phone that's bright enough to maintain visibility outdoors, and can avoid thermal throttling under load. Conversely, you want a phone that can dim the display enough to protect your eyes in a dark room.

Excel's data validation is far more powerful than just dropdowns — here's what it can actually enforce

Yasir Mahmood — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:00:17 GMT

Most people set up a dropdown list to make spreadsheets smarter with Excel's data validation. However, the Custom option in the Data Validation dialog accepts any formula that returns TRUE or FALSE, which means you can enforce rules that dropdowns were not built to handle.

There are two kinds of motion blur in games and I hate one of them

Dave Meikleham — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:30:17 GMT

I normally really dislike traditional motion blur in video games. There, I said it. Some folks absolutely swear by this in-game effect, claiming it makes titles look smoother and more filmic in action. Not for me, though. Motion blur is a tremendously polarizing visual effect, and it’s one my eyes simply cannot stand.

This one Developer Options setting actually makes old Android phones faster

Yadullah Abidi — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:00:16 GMT

Android phones have a tendency to get progressively slower as they age. There are things you can do with an old Android phone, but using it as a daily driver might not be possible on account of the slowdown.

I archive every webpage the moment I bookmark it and I've never lost a saved link since

Oluwademilade Afolabi — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:31:17 GMT

Have you ever clicked a saved link and landed on a page not found error message? You bookmarked that article months ago because it had exactly the information you needed, and now it is gone. The site was restructured, the author deleted it, or the whole domain expired. This is called link rot, and it is far more common these days.

You've been reading Task Manager's memory page wrong — here's what those numbers actually mean

Tashreef Shareef — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 16:00:17 GMT

Every time my system felt sluggish, I'd open Task Manager, see 85% memory usage, and start browsing RAM kits on Amazon. Unfortunately, RAM prices have been through the roof due to the AI boom, and I've been holding off buying more RAM until the prices stabilize. Turns out, I was reading the numbers wrong for years. The big "In Use" figure everyone watches isn't the one that tells you whether your system is actually under memory pressure. Before you go looking for ways to reduce your RAM usage on Windows, it's worth understanding what Task Manager is telling you.

I paid for 4K Netflix for years without realizing I needed to change one setting

Chris Hachey — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:30:17 GMT

Netflix is one of the well-known and used streaming services in the entertainment industry. It has released some of the biggest TV series and movies that have captured the zeitgeist over the past 10–15 years. Shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, and Squid Game have swept up the world in hysteria. It has become a widely recognized distributor of films as well, boasting award-winning pictures for years.

I switched my Linux terminal to Zsh and it’s the biggest productivity boost I’ve had in years

Afam Onyimadu — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:00:17 GMT

My Linux terminal is one of the most important tools for my daily workflows. However, using it with its default shell can be limiting. Sometimes I find myself second-guessing tab completions, retyping long commands, and losing my flow while performing simple tasks.