[PREVIEW] What's Next For Windows 10?

Category: Windows-10

My, how time flies! As of today, only 81 days remain to upgrade to Windows 10 free of charge. Also on July 29, the first anniversary of Windows 10’s debut, Microsoft is widely expected to roll out a major update to its flagship operating system. Here's what you need to know…

Windows 10 Anniversary Edition Preview

Brave, geeky members of the Windows Insider Program just got a privileged preview of what will probably become Windows 10 “v2.0,” also called the “Annivesary Update.” Windows 10 Build 14328 was released to Insiders on April 22. This latest incremental update contains hundreds of bug fixes and improvements, plus some new features that will really set the Anniversary Update apart.

First of all, the Start menu is gone again. Wait, put down your pitchfork -- it’s now called the “Start Experience.” The latest Start design adds a scrolling list of “All Apps” arranged in alphabetical order. The Power, Settings, and pinned folders icons have been shrunk to a thin bar on the left edge of the Start area. These changes eliminate a few clicks when trying to get a Start task done.

The Settings apps are also getting honed in the Anniversary Update, gradually moving many functions out of Control Panel. Notably, Taskbar Options such as the taskbar’s location, whether it’s locked or hides when not in use, and how icons behave in the taskbar have moved to Settings.

windows-10-july-29.jpg

Among many small but welcome changes, Network Status now includes a button you can click to run a connection speed test. I really like that idea. (But Internet Service Providers who are cheating customers on their speed promises will not.)

Over in the Action Center, clicking on the WiFi button no longer disconnects the WiFi adapter; instead, it displays the list of networks available for connections. Action Center notifications have been cleaned up and streamlined. If you have connected Windows 10 to an online calendar, clicking on the clock icon now displays appointments as well as date and time.

More to Come in Windows 10

Cortana gains the ability to answer questions even on a locked screen, and to perform some tasks without access to the Internet.

Are you interested in the Windows Insider Program? Member-geeks get early access to beta releases and events, and have the opportunity to provide feedback that helps to shape the future of Windows 10. If you want to try Windows 10 Build 14328, join the Insider Program.

Windows Search now returns results from your OneDrive, even if a device is not synced to OneDrive. This odd feature is still a work in progress and nobody is sure what it will look like in the end.

Windows 11 Review: Why I Switched B...
Windows 11 Review: Why I Switched Back To Win10

Windows Ink Workspace is another distinction of the Anniversary Update. It’s available only on machines that support pen-based input, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro. The Ink environment facilitates drawing of smooth lines, including handwriting; the ability to change the color and style of “pen” strokes; and drafting tools such as a rule that makes it easy to draw straight lines at any angle. The Ink Workspace works with apps such as OneNote, the Microsoft Edge browser, Photos, and a few demo apps. Third-party developers can add Ink support to their apps with just a few lines of code.

Are you looking forward to July 29? Will you upgrade to Windows 10 before the opportunity to do it for free expires? Do you think Microsoft will extend the deadline for the free upgrade? What features would YOU like to see in Windows 10? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below…

 
Ask Your Computer or Internet Question

 
  (Enter your question in the box above.)

It's Guaranteed to Make You Smarter...

AskBob Updates: Boost your Internet IQ & solve computer problems.
Get your FREE Subscription!


Email:

Check out other articles in this category:



Link to this article from your site or blog. Just copy and paste from this box:

This article was posted by on 9 May 2016


For Fun: Buy Bob a Snickers.

Prev Article:
[WIFI] Stuck in a Dead Zone?

The Top Twenty
Next Article:
7 Free Tools to Recover Deleted Files

Most recent comments on "[PREVIEW] What's Next For Windows 10?"

Posted by:

Annie Simpson
10 May 2016

Windows 10 has made my perfectly functional low end Dell laptop an extremely annoying appliance I'm longing to get rid of. It is now slow as molasses, hard to navigate, and prone to corruption of documents. If I had the $$ I would switch to Mac.


Posted by:

Clair
10 May 2016

It would be nice if Microsoft would just make a operating system that works. I have 10 installed and I get blue screens constantly. I didn't get blue screens when I had Windows 7.


Posted by:

john sayers
10 May 2016

I also get blue screens all the time. not good windows 10 needs to improve


Posted by:

Brad
11 May 2016

Running W10 on two desktops, just a few issues but nothing too drastic.
I also have a laptop running W8.1 still debating the jump to W10 on it.
Laptop is fairly new but it can be a bit kooky at times. I know if unhappy with 10 I can go back, time will tell I suppose.

One good thing, I really like the tips from Mr. Bob.


Posted by:

David Shellard
11 May 2016

The only time I will upgrade to ten is if it ever puts back Windows Media Center


Posted by:

Jim Webster
11 May 2016

My wife's HP laptop automatically loaded W10, and it worked fine until there was an upgrade. We then could not connect ti the Internet because of a registry error. To make a long story short, I finally got a Microsoft tech who took control of the machine, deleted all W10 and restored W7Pro. Now what the heck do I do???? And what choice do we have?


Posted by:

Andres
11 May 2016

I upgraded my Dell 5551 as soon as I got it from 8.1 to 10 because as an IT professional I try to stay current with the MS products (Not because I'm a Microsoftie but because I actually spend my professional time in *nix and its easy to get way out of synch) and at first I had a HUGE corruption with the Windows Store, and had to do an elaborate fix using powershell (I had a hard time imagining not-technical people doing this) but much to my shock, its been ROCK SOLID ever since. I have an Ubuntu dual-boot and this system has been great. Huh.


Posted by:

Larry M
11 May 2016

Am I the only one who likes Windows 10? Upgraded 2 HP laptops at home and two Dell desktops at work with zero issues. No lag, no blue screens, nothing. Maybe I'm just lucky.


Posted by:

Sally
11 May 2016

No, Larry M, you are not alone. I upgraded two Dell laptops and have had no problems, just the usual learning curve - went from XP to 10. And I like using 10.


Posted by:

Rob
12 May 2016

I upgraded my Dell from Windows 7 Home to Windows 10. It worked great at first, but then started to have issues. The weather tile stopped working. The Microsoft store tile did the same. I had issues rebooting all the time; especially after software updates. What I did to fix this mess was to do a PC reset from the Windows 10 safe start. It took off all third party software (Office, Virus software, Adobe, iTunes, Windows 7 garage related to Windows 7, etc.) Once I did that, my PC is now working better than it ever was. The process even provided me with a list of all the software it removed so I could reinstall the software I still wanted to use. I highly recommend the process.


Posted by:

Bert
16 May 2016

I've tried 3 times to install Win10 over my existing Win7 and it never happens. Can't even find a trace of the application downloading. But from the problems reported, I think I'll stick to my old tried and true Win7.


Posted by:

William
16 May 2016

I have run Win 10 on 4 computers since it was downloaded. No problems yet!!


Posted by:

Xian Morales
25 Jun 2016

really love windows 10, no major problems encountered with 4 laptops since upgrade, definitely worth a try for those not yet migrating to windows 10.


Post your Comments, Questions or Suggestions

*     *     (* = Required field)

    (Your email address will not be published)
(you may use HTML tags for style)

YES... spelling, punctuation, grammar and proper use of UPPER/lower case are important! Comments of a political nature are discouraged. Please limit your remarks to 3-4 paragraphs. If you want to see your comment posted, pay attention to these items.

All comments are reviewed, and may be edited or removed at the discretion of the moderator.

NOTE: Please, post comments on this article ONLY.
If you want to ask a question click here.


Free Tech Support -- Ask Bob Rankin
Subscribe to AskBobRankin Updates: Free Newsletter

Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
About Us     Privacy Policy     RSS/XML


Article information: AskBobRankin -- [PREVIEW] What's Next For Windows 10? (Posted: 9 May 2016)
Source: https://askbobrankin.com/preview_whats_next_for_windows_10.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved