Windows 10 Build 10130 Accelerates To 'Fast Ring' With UI, Cortana Enhancements
As it alluded to in the last post, Microsoft once again stresses
that from here on out, newly rolled-out builds are going to be more about
refinement than anything else. At this point in the game, it's unlikely we're
to learn about brand-new full-blown features, but what's already here will see
continual improvements.
What could be the most noticeable change in this build is an update to the system icons. Many were not too keen on the original icons, so Microsoft angled the folders and dulled down the cartoon look a little bit. The disk drive icons also look different, but I think for the better. What do you think?
In build 10122, a Start section was added to the Personalization submenu in the Settings app, but some of the options were disabled. In 10130, those options have been enabled, allowing you to fine-tune to a fair degree. It's certainly not the level of customization I'm sure many were originally hoping for, but Windows has never been a hugely customizable OS to begin with (it still could have at least had an option to return to the Windows 7-style menu!)
Other improvements include an update to Jump Lists that matches its theme with the rest of the OS, a Continuum feature that allows you to swipe from the top edge (as in Windows 8.1) to open up app commands, the ability to pin or unpin a Cortana pane in Edge (still called Project Spartan in this build), as well as a new keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + C to trigger Cortana.
Before wrapping up, there's one other update I have to call out on its own, because it gets me a little excited. In Windows 10, Microsoft is allowing you to create virtual desktops, but each one of those desktops will share the taskbar. In 10130, that won't be the case of "filtered Taskbar". That will show only the current apps in the taskbar on each given desktop. This is great for those who want to keep their distracting apps (IM, for example), on another desktop, allowing them to better focus on their work.
Unfortunately, there are no ISOs for this build (and none dating back to 10074), so this is an upgrade-only affair right now. As a reminder, you must have the Fast ring selected in order to upgrade, and if you do, hit up the URL below to check out the known issues.
