Windows 10: Microsoft’s Windows 10 turns three today

Happy birthday, Windows 10! Three years ago today, Microsoft launched Windows 10 as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8.1. At that time, Microsoft said that the future is “Windows as a service” and there’s no secret update in the works coming next. It’s all just Windows 10.

Instead of big releases, there are now regular improvements and updates. Microsoft patches Windows 10 with security and non-security fixes once or even twice a month and new feature updates are released twice a year. Microsoft has been actively working on for Windows 10 to ensure it spans across multiple device types.

Windows Insider program

We're rolling out #Windows10 from today in waves. When your PC is ready to upgrade you will see this icon… pic.twitter.com/lSTSADHjQF

— Windows UK (@WindowsUK) July 29, 2015
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It’s worth noting that journey of Windows 10 actually started on September 30, 2014, but it was available for users enrolled in the Windows Insider Program only. Windows 10 is successful because of the feedback Microsoft received from the enthusiasts. The Insider program allowed users to download early development builds of the operating system well ahead of its release and helped Microsoft shape the platform.

Start Menu

The original Start Menu in Windows 10




The above screenshot shows the first Start menu that was available in Windows 10 build 9841. It was based on the old set of APIs introduced in Windows 8.

Start menu received minor UI changes with November Updare


Image Courtesy: PCMag

Windows 10 November Update was the first big update to Microsoft’s Windows 10 OS and it allowed users to increase the Start menu’s tile sections to four, medium-square tiles across. The resizing icons got updated to show you how they’ll look in context of other tiles.

It got better with Windows 10 Anniversary Update






With Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft refined Start Menu with a cleaner design that reduced the amount of clicking and scrolling needed to launch apps. Microsoft simplified the tasks and elevated the All apps list to the top level, making it easier to access all apps.

Microsoft brought Fluent Design to Start Menu with Creators Update


With Windows 10 Creators Update and Fall Creators Update, Microsoft introduced Fluent Design’s acrylic material to the Start. It brought beautiful layer of transparency. Microsoft also crafted a buttery smooth resize experience and refined the transition to tablet mode.

Last but not the least, Microsoft added icons to context menus for a more user-friendly design.

Start Menu at its best


Image Courtesy: Microsoft.com

With Windows 10 April 2018 Update, the Start menu is better than ever. Microsoft has pinned the documents and pictures to the left-pane of start menu which has made it easier to find your stuff. You can also pin the frequent destinations like downloads, music, and videos.

• Simplified letter grouping in Start for East Asian languages.
• New Reveal effect to Start in All apps: A lighting effect to illuminate important elements when your mouse hovers over them.
• More discoverable folders.

Here's to 1,096 (2016 = leap year ) days of getting it done. Happy 3rd birthday to #Windows10. pic.twitter.com/i5nNRKXFqI

— Windows (@Windows) July 29, 2018
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What do you think about Windows 10? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Microsoft’s Windows 10 turns three today appeared first on Windows Latest

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Microsoft Selects Dolby Audio for Windows 10

it would've been great if microsoft added HEVC decoders, LAV filters along with other codecs with Windows 10, and developing WMP to be better than VLC, KMPlayer and such sorts of media players.

Nevertheless, this is good step for microsoft, by far.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Privacy tweaks...

• Turn Cortana Off. Bring up the Start menu and start typing. Click on the notebook icon in the left sidebar and choose Settings. From there, you can turn off Cortana.
• Search online and include web results. When you turn off Cortana, you’ll see this option appear. You can turn it off if you’d rather not get web search suggestions from the Start menu, which log your typing and send it back to Microsoft so you can get live-updating predictions, just like you do on Google.com or in Chrome and Firefox.
• Getting to Know You. In Settings > Privacy > Speech, Inking, & Typing, you’ll find a feature called “Getting to Know You”. This is probably the most sweeping privacy setting on the system, and even after turning off Cortana, you’ll have to disable this setting. Just click the “Stop Getting to Know Me” button to turn it off.
• Cloud Info. Turning off Getting to Know You removes info from your device, but you’ll have to remove it from the cloud separately. In that same window, click “Go to Bing and manage personal info for all your devices” to clear the Getting to Know You Data from your Microsoft account.

• If you head to Settings > Privacy > Feedback & Diagnostics, you’ll see two settings:

• Feedback frequency: Windows will occasionally ask you for feedback so you can send Microsoft your thoughts on Windows 10. If you’d rather it not bug you with such things, you can change it to Never.
• Diagnostic and usage data: This feature can send a lot of data back to Microsoft, including how often you use certain apps, which apps you use most often, and memory snapshots (which can inadvertently include parts of a document you’re working on if something crashes). You can change this to Full, Enhanced, or Basic. You can read more about what each of these to here.

Microsoft doesn’t let you turn off diagnostics completely, except on Enterprise versions of Windows. The Basic setting, they say, is data that is “vital to the operation of Windows”, including Windows Update and malicious software protection.


some may be duplicated. I found this info on Lifehacker, if anyone wants the full article.

 

Microsoft Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Available Today

Microsoft released Windows 10, code named "Threshold 1," a little over two years ago. As of May of this year, there were approximately 500 million Windows 10 devices worldwide. Originally, Microsoft predicted that Windows 10 would be installed on 1 billion devices by mid-2018. When released, Windows 10 gained huge adoption from those running Windows 7 from the "free-upgrade program" which lasted one year.

Since then however, installations have slowly declined and in July of last year, Microsoft admitted that they would miss their projected goal of 1 billion devices. Since its release, Windows 10 has had three major update releases with "Threshold 2," in 2015, "Anniversary Update," in 2016, "Creators Update" in April of this year and today marks the release of Microsoft's fourth major feature update to its operating system, dubbed "Fall Creators Update," version 1709.


Today's update brings about many new features including:

• OneDrive On demand (formerly known as OneDrive Placeholders introduced in WIndows 8.1) a way to keep track of your files stored on OneDrive from any of your devices without having to store them locally.
• 'My People' Hub Integration makes it easier to stay in touch with people right from the taskbar
• Story Remix gives you to the tools and the power to create content from your photos and videos to make memorable stories
• Windows Mixed Reality brings a new generation of augmented reality where the real world meets the digital one.
• Fluent Design System is Microsoft's new design that will take place over the next few years with each feature update. Microsoft intends to make all products and devices one user interface and it begins with the Fall Creators Update.

Furthermore, Microsoft has made changes and brings privacy enhancements with today's update. The Fall Creators Update gives users more control of what information is being collected. Users will be greeted with the Privacy Statement on the setup process to get an idea of what information that entails. Microsoft is also adding two game anti-cheating systems, called TruePlay and Game Monitor, to address the problem of cheating similarly to what VAC (Valve Anti-Cheating) does for Steam.

The Fall Creators Update is available today but will be rolled out in stages as usual. Newer devices most compatible with Windows 10 will receive the update first. The rollout will take several months before everyone is updated. However, if you don't see today's update you can use the Update Assistant Tool to manually update now, here.

Source: Microsoft