Review: Windows 10 May Update unleashes a spring surprise | Computerworld.

Join , subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Microsoft will now release new major updates every year. These major updates can take some time to reach your PC since Microsoft and PC manufacturers do extensive testing before fully rolling them out. The latest version of Windows 10 is the November Update.

Its final build number is This is the latest version. When Microsoft provides the update to your PC, it automatically installs itself. Instead, Microsoft rolls them out slowly over time, after both Microsoft and the various PC manufacturers check to see if they cause problems with different hardware configurations. However, you can override this and choose to install the update anyway. After all, you can always downgrade back to your current version of Windows 10 if you have any problems, assuming you choose to do so within ten days after upgrading.

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Windows 10 version should just work out of the box, right? Wrong | ZDNet.

The whole point of splitting Cortana and search is so that Microsoft could build out each feature as its own thing, without getting in the way of one another. Unfortunately, Microsoft has opted to do the bare minimum here. Microsoft is planning to further this separation with an actual good Cortana experience with the next major update coming in spring , but that’s a long way away.

For now, we’re stuck with this. On the search side of things, the UI is more or less the same when searching, but there’s now a new landing page that shows your most used apps and recent Timeline activities. It’s a clean UI, but for some reason, Microsoft is using custom context menus that aren’t like anything else in the Windows Shell.

They have no animation, no Fluent Design, and don’t even adhere to the dark theme. Search is now separate from Cortana, so it no longer has a hamburger menu along the left side. Typically, this wouldn’t be a problem, but since Microsoft hasn’t updated the UI, it’s very obviously missing a hamburger menu now.

It just looks stupid having this unnecessary gap that’s the exact width of the Start button between the edge of your screen and the beginning of the search UI. Also, Microsoft did a poor job integrating the search UI and the Start menu. You can still begin typing directly on the Start menu, but instead of getting a smooth transition from the Start menu to the search UI, the Start menu briefly closes and the search UI pops up without any animation.

It’s quick, but clunky. Overall, the Cortana and Search split in the May Update feels unfinished and needs serious work. Microsoft says it has improved the search algorithms under the hood, which should result in more accurate and faster searches. But the overall user experience is rough. This is arguably one of the more significant new features in this release, but only if you’re a Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise user.

If you run Windows 10 Home, unfortunately, Windows Sandbox is not available. Essentially, Windows Sandbox allows you to run programs that might not be safe in a throwaway virtual machine, untouched from your actual OS. For example, if I were to download a random. If it turns out to be safe, I can install it on my main OS; if not, I can close the Sandbox and all its contents are discarded forever.

Sandbox is a power user feature, meaning most users likely won’t find it very useful. In fact, it’s turned off by default, requiring you to go into a legacy Control Panel applet to enable it. Once enabled, you’ll find the Windows Sandbox feature in the Start menu’s apps list. The throwaway virtual machine runs the same version of Windows 10 that you’re running normally, except with nothing installed. It’s a clean slate every time. Some minor changes have been made to the File Explorer in the May Update, all designed to make using it a little easier.

Microsoft changed the default view for the downloads folder, now putting your most recent downloads at the very top and categorizing them under dated tabs. This has been in Windows for a long time but wasn’t set as default until now.

This view for the downloads folder is a much better way of organizing your downloads. Previously, your downloads would just organize alphabetically, like most other folders on your PC.

This meant that, for the most part, you would have to hunt for the file you just downloaded in the downloads folder. That’s no longer an issue now that the default behavior is to have the most recent download at the very top of the list in the downloads folder. Microsoft also updated the File Explorer icon a bit, giving it a slightly warmer color so that it doesn’t clash with the new light theme.

This isn’t something you’ll likely notice unless you compare them side by side. As is the case with every new Windows 10 feature update, Microsoft did some new stuff with the Settings app. To begin, Microsoft has updated the account security area of the Settings app, cleaning up the UI and making things a little more organized. You’ll now see all of the options available for setup on your account, including things like Windows Hello facial recognition, fingerprint login, or iris scanning.

You can also easily set up with a standard PIN, physical security key, standard password, and even a picture password from Windows 8.

This new UI is so much cleaner and straight forward, but I wonder why Microsoft decided that it’s necessary to list sign-in options even if they are unavailable on my device. Windows Hello fingerprint shows up on my Surface Book 2, even though it doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner.

I’d much prefer if the options that were unavailable on my device didn’t show up at all. Either way, the new UI is a great improvement that makes setting up account authentication more straightforward. Microsoft updated Focus Assist to come on automatically when entering fullscreen mode within an app.

So, if you’re using Netflix for example, and you enter fullscreen mode to watch your video, notifications will no longer bombard you while you’re in fullscreen mode. You can turn this off, of course, but the idea is if you’re entering fullscreen, you likely don’t want to be interrupted.

There are also plenty of new ease-of-access options available in the Settings app, including the ability to change the color of your cursor and resize it with more granular controls. While Windows has always had the ability to resize your cursor, it’s never been this easy.

It’s now just a simple slider, that updates on the fly without you needing to click “apply” every time you set a size. Windows Update received some pretty significant upgrades with the May Update, and it’s good news for users. Microsoft is backing off its heavy-handedness when it comes to forcing updates onto users. Starting this month, users will no longer be forced to install new feature updates unless they explicitly click on an install button for it.

You will still have to install security patches and driver updates, but the big feature updates won’t be forced straight away. Eventually, the latest feature update will be forced, but only once the version of Windows 10 you’re using runs out support, which is usually every 18 months for users upgrading to a new version of Windows 10 on release.

So, for example, if you were to install the May Update upon release, you wouldn’t have to install any other feature updates released between the May Update and 18 months after. This doesn’t mean Microsoft isn’t going to alert you of a new feature update, however.

Microsoft added orange indicators that sit in the System Tray and Start menu when an update is pending install.

I find them quite handy, as it’s an easy and subtle way to tell if my PC needs to restart. Microsoft added the option to delay Windows 10 security and driver updates for up to 35 days.

These updates are forced on a more frequent basis, as they’re designed to keep your PC running securely and smoothly, but you can pause them. This is new for Windows 10 Home users, who previously were unable to pause security updates. So overall, Microsoft really improved Windows Update with this release. The only time the PC will forcefully restart is if the user has delayed an update for an inexplicable amount of time.

There’s now plenty of time for a user to find out an update is available and prepare their PC to install it.

One notable change that you probably wouldn’t notice unless you were told is the wallpaper on the lock screen will now blur when you go to login.

It’s a nice, subtle design choice that puts the login screen inline with other Fluent Design areas of the OS. Microsoft is also focused on privacy with this update, adding little things like a microphone icon in the system tray whenever an app is using your mic.

Clicking on the icon will bring you to a settings pane that lets you control what apps can access your microphone. Cloud Clipboard received some minor updates, reducing the overall size of the UI to make it more natural for keyboard and mice users.

I still think discoverability of this feature is abysmal. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one used it, because they don’t know it’s there. It’s off by default, likely for privacy reasons, but there’s nothing during setup that would indicate that there is such a feature.

The only way you’d know is if someone told you about it, or you just happen to stumble across it in Settings. Finally, Microsoft says it has updated the reliability of the Start menu.

I’ve had mixed results with these claims, however. On one device, Start works fine all of the time. It opens instantly and is very fast.

On another device, however, Start crashes at least once a day and doesn’t pop up for about 10 seconds after that. I think so, yes. Microsoft took extra special care to make sure this update is free of any data-losing bugs or major issues.

It’s spent an extra month in testing to ensure this. I know, because this update was supposed to be called the April Update, until Microsoft decided to give it a little more testing time.

That’s a good thing. I think the improvements to Windows Update are worth it alone. The new light theme is something cool to check out, and the other smaller miscellaneous changes make the update feel complete.

Search and Cortana really do need some work, though. The search function is fine, but the split is rough and does not make for a very good user experience. The Windows 10 May Update is rolling out now as a free update for Windows 10 users. If you don’t own Windows 10 yet, you can buy it right from Microsoft now. More on the May Update.

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience. Anker 4 port USB 3. Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3. This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It’s great for hanging accessories like headsets. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows 10 on PCs, tablets, phones, and more.

Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter: zacbowden. Windows Central Windows Central. Microsoft Windows For New light theme. More consistent UI. Windows Sandbox is great. Windows Update improvements are awesome. Against Search and Cortana split is horrible. Cortana and My People don’t support light theme. Windows 10 May Update.

Zac Bowden opens in new tab opens in new tab opens in new tab. More about windows Windows 10 version 22H2 announced, and its first build is available fo Topics Windows 10 May Update. See all comments I don’t have the new banner on the Settings app. Using latest Insider Release Preview build. Maybe a US only feature? It not. While they test its performance With it on and off.

Thanks for letting me know that, hopefuly they’ll release it for everyone soon. Saying that, how often do people really look at settings? It seems a strange place to put that info. I have it in my VM but when I tested had to roll back it was not there. I’ve been enjoying the update, but I do not have the new Settings UI. Never have. They removed it for some users for further testing with it on and off.

They did mention that it will come back at a later date. I don’t have the new banner. It was removed from 19H1 for further testing. But they did mention in the blog post that it will come back at a later date. So maybe before public roll out. It’s also available for 20H1 users. Can someone tell me why I don’t have the new banner?

Really useless feature. Hope it gets canned. Haha I actually laughed out loud. There’s actually another place where the light theme is not applied, which is the context menus in Task View. The context menus in the shell used to be somewhat consistent the ones in Start, Task View and the taskbar were either the same or very similar up until now , now Start, Task View and the taskbar all have different ones.

I think Microsoft’s designers are good but it’s clear the people in charge of actually implementing the designs seem to think just slapping blur on things is enough to call it a day. It’s a shame an eye for details is sorely missing. Sadly that’s the case.

Add to that injury is Microsoft seems like trying a new revision of Fluent Design already making more mess to the already incosistent design. There are still several areas that lacks polish, and I’m talking about the legacy parts of the OS which is understandable even though it is doable.

Things like the lack of proper animation when closing Tile Folder not even a Live Tile which is useless for apps showing notifications or information. Hamburger menus are still inconsistent between apps, some have animations, some have different paddings, etc. Eye for details is still sorely lacking even with new Microsoft, especially towards to their software. But on hardware it is a complete and they do deliver, looking at Surface and Xbox hardware and we can see that they can compete with Apple head-to-head, if not better on some areas.

I personally like working on Windows, but that’s because of the feature-set, ecosystem that I currently in to and the general workflow. My reasoning on using Windows 10 is mostly utilitarian. But as a designer, using Windows as my daily OS driver often reminds me of the mess it has. Too bad I’m not really into Apple ecosystem and it is just not for me, also I like playing PC games so. I believe search and Cortana split is a wonderful change.

When you’re asking Cortana for YouTube, you want her to bring you to the site, not to search for YouTube on your hard drive. Cortana’s downfall is simply that Cortana. Who uses Windows search to search the web?

Just type in your browser address bar 😛 I only use that to find files or quickly launch applications I do if the browser is closed. One less click. The inconsistency of those taskbar icons is crazy, basically a different style for each, some are monochrome, some are not.

You should also ensure that you have installed the current servicing stack update for your edition, either by way of Windows Update or manually from this page: “Latest Servicing Stack Updates. One of the post commitments from Microsoft was a dashboard for monitoring the health and stability of each new Windows 10 release. That Windows Release Information dashboard is now live. It contains just about everything you need to know for currently released Windows 10 versions, with dates for when they were made available for their respective servicing channels and their end-of-support dates.

Now that version build Using the links on the left side of that page, you can track known issues, including the status of upgrade blocks.

As of release date, May 21, , the list of known issues with status listed as “investigating” includes three items, with another nine items on the list checked off as “mitigated. Even though Microsoft is continuing to roll out the version update slowly, I recommend caution. You can monitor that release health dashboard to identify bugs that might affect PCs you manage.

For business customers, consider waiting until Microsoft has declared version ready for widespread deployment. When that happens, you’ll see a new line on the dashboard for the Semi-Annual Channel servicing option. And even that milestone doesn’t mean you need to rush into an update.

Consumers and small businesses have 18 months from the release of a feature update before they’re required to install an update. For version , the end-of-service date is November 12, ; for version , the date is May 12, In theory, for any PCs you manage that are running version version or later, you have at least six months to test version before you have to begin making upgrade plans.

If so, you might be surprised. In today’s blog post announcing the availability of version , Microsoft offered more details about how it will approach feature updates as the end of service date approaches:. For Windows 10 devices that are at, or within several months of reaching, end of service, Windows Update will automatically initiate a feature update Starting this June, we will begin updating devices running the April Update and earlier versions of Windows If you’re uncomfortable with the possibility that your older version of Windows 10 will receive the version update in the next few weeks, your best bet is to update to version as soon as possible.

On machines running Enterprise or Education editions, you have 30 months of support for so-called H2 versions released in the second half of each year. If you manage Enterprise or Education deployments editions, version does not reach end of service until November 10, , and the end-of-support date for version update is May 11, Pay special attention to those dates; because version is an H2 release, its end-of support date is six months later than version Microsoft is taking an extra cautious approach to the rollout of the latest Windows 10 feature update.

Windows 10 version has just been released to the general public after a lengthy round of extra testing. Should you install the new update or wait? Windows 10 How to recover deleted files in Windows 10 or 11 Microsoft enters the final test phase for Windows 10 22H2 before it rolls out The top Windows laptops compared Here’s how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade.

Microsoft has resolved this error message in Windows 10 version Windows 10 May Update: The new features that matter most.

Windows 10 1903 review free. Windows 10 1903 (ISO Bootable Image)

 
Windows 10 introduce un nuevo navegador web predeterminado, Microsoft Edge. [12] Cuenta con herramientas de anotación e integración con otras plataformas de Microsoft presentes en Windows Internet Explorer 11 se mantendrá por fines de compatibilidad con aplicaciones de escritorio, pero ya no es un navegador usual, haciendo a Edge como su navegador . HomeGroup: HomeGroup was removed starting with the April Update (Windows 10, version ), but you still have the ability to share printers, files, and folders. When you update from an earlier version of Windows 10, you won’t see HomeGroup in File Explorer, the Control Panel, or Troubleshoot (Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot). Windows 10 is a series of operating systems developed by oft described Windows 10 as an “operating system as a service” that would receive ongoing updates to its features and functionality, augmented with the ability for enterprise environments to receive non-critical updates at a slower pace or use long-term support milestones that will only receive .