Microsoft has released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21286 to insiders in the Dev Channel. The new release comes with quite a number of new features but the most eye catching introduction is the additional of 'News and Interests' to the taskbar. At this time only users in United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and India will be able to access this task bar pop-up content. Microsoft's Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay, is very much in love with the "cool new feature".
Above you can see a screenshot of News and Interests, maximised and in its proposed new home in the Windows taskbar. Microsoft's dynamic content area allows you to quickly check for the latest updates in news, weather and so on, throughout your day while using your PC. Microsoft suggests this feature will save you time switching between PC and phone news feeds and apps – while keeping you up to date on the things you care about.
Of course the peekable content is customisable – not directly but from prodding feedback options for 'More stories like this' or 'Fewer stories like this'. Microsoft's feed can include content from 4,500 global sources covering various locations and specialisations etc. Moreover, it has sports, stocks and a weather section.
Microsoft says that the new news and interests feature fully respects your privacy with quick access to the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard available, further controls in Microsoft Edge (which is the engine behind this feature). Last but not least you can simply turn off this feature if you see no value in it - by right-clicking and choosing to disable it.
Other features in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21286 worth a quick mention are the:
- Modernised Storage Spaces Settings
- New File System Command Line Tool DiskUsage
- Improved time zone transition experiences
- Two updated Windows File Recovery methods
- And a host of bug fixes, with a similarly long list of known issues being worked upon.
