The second big update to Windows 10 is out today!
Like the first update in November this is again more of an incremental update with improvements in lots of different areas of Windows 10.
Microsoft Edge Browser Extensions
This is one I’m very pleased about. I’ve been using Google Chrome for a few years now and one of my favourite features is the extensions available.
Currently there aren’t too many available for Edge but you can already get some of my favourites: Ad Blocker, Lastpass password manager and Save to Pocket (so useful for organising parts you want to go back to later)
Cortana Improvements
I must admit I’ve not used Cortana much on Windows 10 but it’s definitely becoming more useful so I’ll be using it more in the future I think.
This update brings improvements to reminders, lock screen use and is going to have the ability to sync notifications with your phone. Currently the notification sync is only available on a Windows 10 phone but it’s coming to Android and iPhone soon™.
Start Menu Improvements
The original Windows 10 start menu was a big improvement on the Windows 8 start screen, moving back to more of a mix between Windows 7 and 8.
The Anniversary Update improves on this further by moving some of settings (power, system settings, documents) to a new icon panel on the left hand side. This frees up the rest of the menu to concentrate on all of your installed apps, instead of having to go into a sub menu for them.
Action Centre Improvements
The Action Centre is where all your notifications are collected. It’s what appears when you click the little speech bubble down by the clock in the bottom right hand corner. Central notifications was a BIG improvement for Windows 10.
The Anniversary Update improves on this further by letting you prioritise which notifications will appear at the top (I have my Emails and Slack messages)
By default each app will only show 3 notifications so that one popular app won’t take over the whole bar.
That little speech bubble will also display a number showing how many unread notifications you currently have at a glance.
Taskbar Calendar
The taskbar calendar found when you click on the date/time in the bottom right corner is now tied into the main Calendar app and will show you an overview of your tasks for the day.
Dark Theme
Again not an earth shattering improvement but a lot of people find stock Windows 10 too bright. Find it at Settings > Personalisation > Colours.
Is that all?
There’s lots of other little improvements “under the hood” to make your PC perform better and make your life just a little bit easier. I haven’t mentioned some of the less serious updates either such as the new Xbox Play Anywhere app or the new Emoji 🙂
How do I get the update?
The update will appear with your normal Windows updates with the snappy name of “Feature update to Windows 10, version 1607”. Expect to see it appearing soon and be prepared for a longer install time than most Windows updates!