Author Topic: Windows 10 version 2004: Here’s what’s new 1/2  (Read 79 times)

Offline javajolt

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Windows 10 version 2004: Here’s what’s new 1/2
« on: March 08, 2020, 07:57:43 PM »
Microsoft will be releasing its next major update in the spring of 2020. The new update is dubbed as Windows 10 20H1 or Windows 10 version 2004 but Microsoft will most likely give it an official name closer to the rollout. The company recently published the ISO files of the 2004 update on the Windows Insider website so we expect Microsoft to announce the update rollout dates soon.

Microsoft started working on Windows 10 version 2004 last year which came as a surprise to many users. The company decided to make 19H2 an incremental upgrade and save the major features and changes for Windows 10 version 2004. Now, that Microsoft has almost rolled out Windows 10 19H2 to all the Windows 10 users, the company has started focusing on the next big update which is Windows 10 version 2004. As noted above, Windows 10 version 2004 will be rolling out in the spring of 2020 and Microsoft has already finalized the feature list and is almost done with the testing of the update.

WHAT’S NEW IN WINDOWS 10 VERSION 2004:

CORTANA ON WINDOWS (BETA)

As part of evolving Cortana from a general digital assistant to a personal productivity assistant that helps you in the Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft has made several changes that will give you a glimpse into how your assistant will help you manage tasks and time and connect with people. Read more about these changes.

With the new conversational Cortana experience, Microsoft understands that you want to keep the chat going sometimes, and the default position of the window isn’t always where you’d prefer to have it docked if you’re going to have a longer back and forth. That’s why Microsoft is starting to roll out the option to be able to move the window (by dragging the title bar area), to anywhere you’d like on the screen–just like you can with other windows. You can also resize the window if you’d like.

Please note that Microsoft is still in the process of expanding language/region support of the new Cortana app, and Insiders outside of English (United States) will see a message when launching Cortana saying “Cortana isn’t available.” Microsoft will update you when the availability increases.



IMPROVED DISK USAGE FOR WINDOWS SEARCH

In 19H1, Microsoft asked Insiders why they were turning off the search indexer. Your feedback helped Microsoft make improvements then and helped focus on three key areas of improvement in Windows 10 version 2004: excessive disk and CPU usage, general performance issues, and low perceived value of the indexer.

Based on this, Microsoft is introducing an algorithm that detects high disk usage and activity, so it can better identify peak usage times and manage the indexer accordingly. Microsoft is also making changes for developers to prevent searches of certain repositories and project folders to improve disk usage.

QUICK SEARCHES NOW IN SEARCH HOME

To help you find the info that matters even faster, Microsoft has added four quick web searches to your Search Home:

   ■ Weather: Get current conditions and the upcoming forecast

   ■ Top news: Read the latest headlines from popular news sites

   ■ Today in history: Explore four events that happened on this day

   ■ New movies: Find out what’s playing in theaters near you

Occasionally, Microsoft will also feature a seasonal topic or interesting quiz.



To try any or all of these searches, click the search box on your taskbar or press the Windows logo key + S to open Search Home. Want answers and results for other searches? Just type to enter your search and get the info you’re looking for quickly and easily.

Note: This is a server-side change that’s currently rolling out and will appear for users across builds from version 1809 to Windows 10 version 2004. Currently, quick searches are only available in the US but will be available soon internationally.

UPDATED DESIGN FOR WEB PREVIEW IN SEARCH RESULTS

Microsoft has made a few small tweaks to how it looks–here’s what you’ll see now:



MORE KAOMOJI

As some of you may know, with Windows 10 version 1903, Microsoft updated our WIN+(Period) / WIN+(Semicolon) keyboard shortcut to not only include emoji but to also now contain kaomoji and special characters. What are kaomoji? Basically, they’re faces with expressions you can make by combining various characters–for example, you might be familiar with the shruggie:

¯\_(?)_/¯



WINDOWS SUBSYSTEM FOR LINUX (WSL) 2 IMPROVEMENTS

Previously, your WSL 2 Virtual Machine’s (VM) memory would grow to meet the needs of your workflow, but would not shrink back down when the memory was no longer needed. With this change, as memory is no longer in use in the Linux VM, it will be freed back to Windows, which will shrink in memory size accordingly.

Microsoft has also added WSL2 support for ARM64 devices! Microsoft has also added the ability to set your distribution’s default user using the /etc/wsl.conf file. For the full details of changes in this latest Insider Preview build, please see the WSL release notes.

Added connecting via localhost to WSL 2 Linux apps from Windows and global WSL configuration options
You’ll now be able to connect to your WSL 2 Linux networking applications using the localhost. For example, the image below shows starting a NodeJS server in a WSL 2 distro and then connecting to it in the Edge Browser with the localhost.



Additionally, Microsoft has added global configuration options for WSL. These are options that will apply to each of your WSL distros. This also allows you to specify options that relate to the WSL 2 virtual machine (VM), as all your WSL 2 distros run inside of the same VM. The most exciting option that you’ll get access to in this build is being able to specify a custom Linux kernel! For the full details on what’s new in this release, check out What’s new for WSL in Insiders Preview Build 18945 on the Windows command line blog.

WINDOWS HELLO PIN IN SAFE MODE

Microsoft is taking another step forward in our Passwordless journey by adding Windows Hello PIN sign-in support to Safe mode so that you no longer have relied on your password when troubleshooting your device. Try it out with the instructions below and let Microsoft know what you think!

   ■ Set up Windows Hello in Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options

   ■ Boot your device into Safe mode:

      ○ Go to Settings > Update and Security > Recovery.

      ○ Under Advanced startup select Restart now.

      ○ After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced
         options
>  Startup Settings > Restart. You may be asked to enter your
         BitLocker recovery key.

      ○ After your PC restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select 4 or press F4 to start your PC in Safe
         Mode. You can also select 5 or press F5 to use Safe Mode with Networking.

      ○ Sign in to your device with your Windows Hello PIN



CONNECTING NETWORK CAMERAS TO WINDOWS 10 DEVICES

Network cameras, which are Internet Protocol-based cameras that transmit video data over a local area network (LAN), are becoming increasingly prevalent—especially in surveillance and security scenarios. Windows now allow users to associate network cameras to their PC, enabling photo capture and streaming of video in-camera applications.

ENABLING AUTOMATIC RESTART FOR UWP APPS

Microsoft already introduced a new separate setting to control if registered desktop apps from your previous sign-in session are restarted when signing back into Windows. In the latest Insider Preview builds, in addition to registered desktop apps, when you opt in to this setting, the majority of open UWP apps are now also automatically restarted as well! To reduce sign-in time, UWP apps are restarted minimized, in a suspended state, giving Windows and other apps more resources to get started. To try it out:

   1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and turn on “Automatically
       save my restartable apps when I sign out and restart them after I sign in
.” under “Restart
       apps
”.

   2. Start one or more UWP apps, such as Feedback Hub.

   3. Sign out and then sign back into Windows.

UWP apps that were started, such as Feedback Hub, should restart minimized with a taskbar button.

XBOX GAME BAR UPDATES

In case you hadn’t seen, Microsoft is starting to roll out an FPS counter and achievement overlay!  The update will come via the Microsoft Store. Just set focus on your favorite game and press WIN + G to get started.



IMPROVING YOUR BLUETOOTH PAIRING EXPERIENCE

For Windows 10, version 1803, Microsoft announced a new streamlined experience for pairing supported Bluetooth devices. The idea was simple—if a supported device was nearby and in pairing mode, Windows will show a notification that prompted you to go through pairing. This saved you from opening Settings yourself and finding the right place to go. Today, Microsoft is rolling out an update with improvements Microsoft hopes you’ll like. Here’s what’s new:

   ■ Pairing is all done in notifications now. You don’t need to go to the Settings app anymore to finish
      pairing.

   ■ For faster pairing time, Microsoft has improved the UI by showing one less notification.

   ■ Microsoft added a Dismiss button to the first notification to give you more control while using Swift
      Pair.

   ■ To make the notification more helpful, now Microsoft shows the device name and category.

Supported devices include:

   ■ Surface Ergonomic Keyboard

   ■ Surface Precision Mouse

   ■ Surface Mobile Mouse

   ■ Surface Arc Mouse

   ■ Surface Headphones

   ■ Microsoft Arc Mouse

   ■ Microsoft Modern Mobile Mouse

   ■ Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard

   ■ Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse



UPDATE ON VIRTUAL DESKTOP RENAMING

The ability to rename your virtual desktops is now available.  To get started:

   1. Open Task View by selecting the Task View icon in the taskbar or pressing WIN+Tab.

   2. Select the New Desktop.

   3. Select the desktop name (“Desktop 1”) and it should become editable, or right-click the
       desktop thumbnail and a context menu will appear with a Rename entry.

   4. Input whatever name you’d like, and press enter.

   5. Done!



INTRODUCING A NEW TABLET EXPERIENCE FOR 2-IN-1 CONVERTIBLE PCS!

Now available: a new tablet experience for 2-in-1 convertible PCs as a Beta to Windows Insiders.



This new experience allows users entering tablet posture to stay in the familiar desktop experience without interruption, plus a few key touch improvements:

   ■ Increased spacing between Taskbar icons.

   ■ Search box on taskbar collapsed into an icon.

   ■ File Explorer switches to touch optimized layout.

   ■ Touch keyboard auto invokes when you tap text fields.

As part of this, Microsoft has also made a few small changes to the tablet section in Settings. Here are the steps to use on your PC:

   1. Use your convertible PC as a laptop as you normally would–opening apps and interacting with them.

   2. When you’re ready to pick it up and go or simply lean back on the couch, you can fold back the
       keyboard or remove it altogether, and it should switch to this new mode shown above.

   3. Now use your device as a tablet with touch.

RESET YOUR PC FROM THE CLOUD

Reset this PC provides users a new choice to download Windows or use local reinstall. Previously, Reset this PC was only able to do a local reinstall and would build a new Windows installation from existing Windows files. When this feature was introduced in Windows 10 version 1507, it provided the advantage of enabling Windows to be recoverable without requiring extra disk space to store a compressed, backup copy of Windows in a hidden partition.

Note: This is a recovery operation and will remove the apps you have installed. Additionally, if the “Remove everything” option is selected, user data will also be deleted. For more information on Reset this PC and other recovery options, visit the link here.

The cloud download option will reinstall the same build, version, and edition, that is currently installed on your device. This new cloud download option is available to all Windows 10 devices and is different from the “Recover from the cloud” feature available on some earlier Windows 10 devices.

For more information, check out this article.



CONTROL OVER RESTARTING APPS AT SIGN-IN

Windows now put you in control with a new app restart setting. When turned on, Windows automatically saves your restartable apps when signing out, restarting, or shutting down Windows, and restarts the next time you sign in. This setting is off by default and you can change it any time in Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options, and can find it by searching for “restart apps” in Start or the search box.



GPU TEMPERATURE COMES TO TASK MANAGER

If you have a dedicated GPU card, Microsoft will now bubble up the current temperature next to its listing in the Performance Tab.



If you have any further feedback for Task Manager, please don’t hesitate to share it. To make suggestions or report issues in this space, press WIN+F and file the feedback under Desktop Environment > Task Manager in the Feedback Hub.

Notes:

  ■ Showing the GPU temperature in Task Manager is currently only supported if you have a dedicated
     GPU card.

  ■ You may need an updated graphics driver to see the temperature. Specifically, one which supports
     version 2.4 (or higher) of WDDM is required. To check which version your PC has, press WIN+R and
     enter dxdiag. Under the Display tab, it will say your WDDM version next to the Driver Model.

  ■ Currently, the temperature value is only supported in Celsius.

ADDING MOUSE CURSOR SPEED TO SETTINGS

You can now set your mouse cursor speed from within Settings! This is the latest piece of Microsoft’s larger ongoing effort to converge Settings and Control Panel experiences. You can find the setting under Settings > Devices > Mouse.



NOTEPAD IMPROVEMENTS

Notepad has been a well-loved text editor in Windows for over 30 years. Over the last few releases, Microsoft has been making a number of small improvements to Notepad based on your feedback including:

   1. Wrap-around find/replace: Microsoft has made a significant improvement to the find/replace
       experience in Notepad. Microsoft has added the option to do wrap-around find/replace to the find
       dialog and Notepad will now remember previously entered values and the state of checkboxes and
       automatically populate them the next time you open the find dialog. Additionally, when you have
       text selected and open the find dialog Microsoft will automatically populate the search field with the
       selected text.



   2. Text zooming: Microsoft has added options to make it quick and easy to zoom text in Notepad.
       There is a new menu option under View > Zoom to change the zoom level and Microsoft displays
       the current zoom level in the status bar. You can also use Ctrl + Plus, Ctrl +
       Minus and Ctrl + MouseWheel to zoom in and out and use Ctrl + 0 to restore the
       zoom level to the default.



   3. Line numbers with word-wrap: A long outstanding request has been to add the ability to display
       line
       and column numbers when word-wrap is enabled. This is now possible in Notepad and Microsoft has
       made the status bar visible by default. You can still turn the status bar off in the View menu.



   4. Modified indicator: Notepad will now show an asterisk (*) in the title bar before the title of a
       document to indicate that a document has unsaved changes.



   5. Send Feedback: You can now send feedback directly from Notepad! Click Help > Send Feedback to
       open the Feedback Hub with the Notepad category selected and get your feedback directly to the product
       team.



UTF-8 Encoding: Microsoft has made significant improvements to the way Notepad handles encoding. Starting with this build, Microsoft is adding the option to save files in UTF-8 without a Byte Order Mark and making this the default for new files. UTF-8 without a Byte Order Mark is backward-compatible with ASCII and will provide better interoperability with the web, where UTF-8 has become the default encoding. Additionally, Microsoft added a column to the status bar that displays the encoding of the document.


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« Last Edit: March 09, 2020, 12:47:00 PM by javajolt »