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This is a huge update that touches every corner of the operating system. It includes many, many more changes than the November update did. The Anniversary Update will report itself as version , despite the fact that it technically launched in August instead of July. This post was originally written on March 30, , but has since been updated with features from the Insider Previews and final release.
Arguably the biggest update is Cortana. Microsoft continues to expand on what Cortana can do, clearly trying to make it the most powerful assistant in an increasingly growing pool of competition Siri, Google Now, Alexa, and the whole gang. This time around, Cortana comes to the Windows 10 lock screen, so you can invoke her at any time. And, she can push stuff to and from your mobile device, including notifications and text messages.
More interestingly, though, Cortana can parse even more information about stuff it thinks you might need. Cortana can also make proactive suggestions for you. Cortana on Windows 10 will now integrate with the Cortana application on your Android or Windows smartphone. These are just the current features, too, so you can expect Microsoft to add more.
The Windows Store is caught in a tough place right now. Microsoft is trying to fix that disconnect in the Anniversary Update. This allows for the easy discovery and installation of the Windows Store, but supposedly comes without all the limitations UWP apps traditionally have. Microsoft has released a tool that allows anyone to convert any desktop application on their computer to a sandboxed UWP application.
Developers can use this to convert their own apps for uploading to the Windows Store, so Windows desktop applications will appear in the Store. You could use it to convert an old desktop application to a UWP application and sideload the application , installing it from outside the Store, if you wanted to. Games are a big part of this.
Microsoft has already added support for disabling Vsync and enabling G-Sync and Freesync. They promise better support for multiple GPUs as well as modding, overlays, and more in the future. But only time will tell if games get feature parity with their regular desktop counterparts. When Windows 10 was released, it included a hidden dark theme you could enable by changing a registry setting or by pressing a secret keyboard shortcut in the Store app.
You could also change your theme in the Edge browser—but just for Edge. This theme was incomplete. Its designed for Windows Store apps, but not every app will listen to this setting and obey it—some apps, especially those from third-party developers, control their own theme settings. This also means File Explorer will remain as blindingly white as ever. This is a big reason MIcrosoft Edge felt so half-baked and lost so many users.
With the Anniversary Update, Edge will finally support browser extensions. Edge uses Chrome-style extensions, and Microsoft will provide a tool that helps developers quickly convert Chrome extensions to Edge extensions. Firefox is also moving to Chrome-style extensions , too.
Edge allows you to pin tabs , like other modern browsers do. This is ideal for websites you always want open, like email and social-networking sites. Microsoft is also adding support for web notifications.
When you visit a website, it can ask you to allow notifications. This feature is already enabled, and works in Skype for Web.
Edge now allows you to swipe to navigate. Swipe anywhere left or right on a page to go back or forward. Microsoft has also done a lot of work on the Edge engine. Microsoft promises various battery life and performance improvements in Edge. Fingerprint sensors have been a huge convenience on phones and tablets, and Windows currently supports it for logging into your laptop too via Windows Hello —provided it has the necessary hardware.
But in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Windows Hello will support Windows apps and Microsoft Edge, so you can securely log into apps and web sites using your fingerprint as well—not just Windows itself.
This actually uses the Fido U2F standard , which various other sites and browsers are implementing in different ways. Microsoft suggests a number of examples. Your phone could be already paired with your PC over Bluetooth and your PC could send a notification to your nearby phone, which you could use to unlock your PC.
A fitness band that can authenticate its wearer could unlock your PC when you clap nearby. They're Actually Useful. Touch screen laptops are more useful than they seem , and Microsoft is pushing that forward even more with Windows Ink: the ability to draw and annotate with a pen in all kinds of useful ways.
For example, you can jot down notes in the Sticky Notes app, which on its own is mildly convenient. This works with other words too, including places that Bing can point to on a map. Windows Ink is built into plenty of other apps, too, like Maps which lets you measure distances between two points by drawing a line and Microsoft Office which lets you highlight text with your pen or delete words by striking them out.
More Windows 10 apps will gain inking support, too. Microsoft has removed the controversial Wi-Fi Sense feature that allowed you to share Wi-Fi network and their passwords with your Facebook, Outlook. Microsoft never did a good job of explaining this feature—perhaps it would have been more popular and less controversial if Microsoft had. In the current version of Windows 10, the Windows Defender anti-malware application automatically disables itself if you install another anti-malware program.
It can automatically turn itself on and scan your system occasionally, even if you have another antivirus program installed. The amount of Microsoft app tiles pinned to the Start menu by default will be reduced from 17 to But, as easy as these advertisements are to remove, new PCs will have a more cluttered Start menu with more ads. Neowin noticed this information in a presentation directed at device manufacturers.
Cortana can also now set and control timers, which is convenient. With Windows 8 and 8. Microsoft abruptly discontinued the Modern version of Skype a month before Windows 10 was released, announcing it was refocusing development attention on the desktop version of Skype Windows users actually used.
Windows 10 launched with a Get Skype application that encouraged you to download the desktop application. These are separate applications for text messages, audio calls, and video calls. Microsoft has now changed its mind again and will discontinue those three separate Skype applications on the desktop. Instead, Microsoft will create a new universal Windows app version of Skype that will eventually replace the traditional desktop application when it has enough features.
The Skype Preview application is now available. In between all the developer talk, Microsoft announced something pretty huge: A true Bash shell in Windows This is not a port like Cygwin, or a virtualization. This is mostly a tool for developers, but cross-platform power users may find this particularly useful as well.
This is actually the full Ubuntu userspace running on Windows. Think of it like the reverse of Wine—Windows is gaining the ability to run Linux binaries natively on Windows. You should eventually be able to launch more shells from the Bash shell, too—the release notes now say the popular Zsh shell is now functional.
Check out our guide for info on how to set it up. Microsoft is experimenting with a new tool that allows you to get a clean Windows 10 system. You can always reinstall Windows 10 yourself, but you have to download installation media. This currently links a Microsoft Answers forum thread where you can download a tool that walks you through the Windows 10 reinstallation process. Your most frequently used and recently added applications will appear at the top of this list.
Important buttons like the File Explorer, Settings, and Shut Down buttons are now always located at the left side of the Start menu. OneDrive users will be happy to know that they can now search all their files—both files on the PC and files stored online in OneDrive—from the Start menu.
You can now pin windows in the Task View interface , making them always appear on every virtual desktop instead of a single virtual desktop. For example, you may want to pin a messaging or music application to all desktops for easy access. Just place four fingers on your touchpad and swipe left or swipe right. And yes, this is the same touchpad gesture Apple uses on Macs. When your system is in Tablet Mode, the All Apps list will now appear in full-screen mode—just like on Windows 8. You can toggle between the tiles view and list of apps with options at the left side of the screen.
You can also choose to automatically hide the taskbar while in tablet mode. With auto-hide enabled, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show or hide the taskbar. The Windows taskbar sees some important improvements, too. The taskbar clock is now integrated with your calendar, so you can click or tap the time and see a list of the calendar events you have scheduled for today. The sound panel is also more useful.
You can click or tap the speaker icon and switch between multiple output devices—like speakers and headphones—if you have more than one connected.
Microsoft heard user complaints, and your email address will no longer appear on your lock screen if you sign in with a Microsoft account. This helps preserve your privacy. The lock screen now features built-in media controls, which appear at the bottom-right corner of the screen along with album art for any playing music.
You can control music playback without unlocking your PC. Cortana can now be used on your lock screen, too.
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