The version of Windows that Microsoft showed off this week has lots more features than the previews Windows Insiders have seen so far. Some of them will arrive in the next Insider build, some will come in February and others will show up over the next three, four or five months. We had a chance to see many of the new features in action – some on both phones and PCs – and to try a lot of them ourselves.
Some of the interface changes are small, but they make Windows 10 feel much more polished. They include a nicer taskbar, the Start menu having a simple control to flip from a small menu to a full-screen one, and neater, smaller borders around windows so they sit more comfortably next to each other.
The Charms bar has changed into a Windows Phone-style notification bar with an expandable set of handy settings – you can select what they are, although from a limited list – and you can get rid of individual notifications or whole sets of them, and pick which apps can put them there in the first place. Some of those notifications will let you click in and make an edit – like replying to a message right in the bar – which makes them much more useful than just having a list of what you've missed.
Some of the interface changes are small, but they make Windows 10 feel much more polished. They include a nicer taskbar, the Start menu having a simple control to flip from a small menu to a full-screen one, and neater, smaller borders around windows so they sit more comfortably next to each other.
The Charms bar has changed into a Windows Phone-style notification bar with an expandable set of handy settings – you can select what they are, although from a limited list – and you can get rid of individual notifications or whole sets of them, and pick which apps can put them there in the first place. Some of those notifications will let you click in and make an edit – like replying to a message right in the bar – which makes them much more useful than just having a list of what you've missed.