Microsoft releases a major release to Windows 10 twice per
year. They patch monthly (or on demand for high priority security threats) but
the major releases come in the spring and fall. As a reminder, Microsoft is not
planning a Windows 11. Windows 10 is the
long-term release and Microsoft will be deprecating older versions on a
schedule. Microsoft was kind enough to
extend the most recent deprecation due to COVID-19, allowing users more time to
update to a supported version. Click here
to see the version levels and end of support dates.
So what is in this release of Windows 10? One important
improvement that will be transparent to users but will likely have the most
impact on your day-to-day work is memory usage improvement in Microsoft
Edge. Microsoft is decoupling updates to
their new chromium-based Edge browser in general but Microsoft is touting a
significant improvement in memory usage with this release. That frees up more memory for other
applications and is a welcome improvement.
Next, would you believe Microsoft has made improvement to
Notepad? Notepad has remained unchanged
for nearly thirty years but this release will see some improvements. Now you will see an asterisk in the title bar
when you have unsaved changes, and they added a nice quick text zooming feature
as well.
Cortana will also show some improvements in this
release. Upon upgrading to this May
release, users will be able to type natural language in the Cortana search bar
and receive answers in many cases.
Examples would be “Am I free at 3:00?” and Cortana will check your
calendar. This can be a productivity gain for many.
Finally, you may read about the improved security by being able to go password-less and use a PIN or biometric authentication method. There are a couple key points here. This feature is dependent on having the appropriate hardware and also you must be using a Microsoft account for login, not a domain login like many businesses will have.
Want to hear more? Give Colden Company a call at (888) 600-4560 or email us at info@coldencompany.com and let our team assist.