PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE WINDOWS The Best New Windows 10 Features in the May 2019 Update By Ben Stegner / Updated May 27, 2019 27-05-2019 / 19 minutes Ben Stegner 1338 articles Ben is a Deputy Editor and the Email Facebook Pinterest Sponsored Post Manager at Twitter MakeUseOf. He holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems Advertisement from Grove City College, where he Windows 10 Reparieren und Updaten graduated Cum Laude and with Honors in his major. He enjoys helping others and is passionate ÖFFNEN about video games as a medium. Update & Reparatur in 2 Min. Sicher & einfach. Jetzt herunterladen! restoro.com Windows 10 releases major updates roughly twice a year, targeted for April and October. The latest release at the time of writing is the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903). While this version doesn’t feature many new features, it makes lots of small improvements across the OS. Let’s take a look at some of the new features and updates in the latest version of Windows. We’ve kept an archive of notable features from previous updates, in case you’re interested. Feel free to jump ahead to any section. Jump to an update: The May 2019 Update The October 2018 Update The Fall Creators Update How to Update to the Latest Version of Windows 10 You’ll eventually get the all feature updates to Windows 10 through Windows Update. Microsoft deploys these updates in batches, so you might not get them right away. When it’s time, you’ll see a prompt letting you know there’s a big update pending. It’s also possible to start the download manually, though Microsoft has changed this a bit. In the past, simply clicking the Check for updates button at Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update would prompt the latest version to download. However, due to rocky launches in the past, Windows will now display a separate prompt here asking if you want to upgrade to the latest feature update. Latest Giveaways! Insta360 Evo: Now Anyone Can Make Movies for VR PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE All-in-One Kit (Review and Giveaway!) You won’t see this prompt unless you have the latest updates installed. For a simpler way, head to the download Windows 10 page and click Update now to grab an applet that will begin the download. Bosma X1 Review: A Decent Indoor Security Cam That Lacks Polish Related Articles WINDOWS 6 Ways to Check Which Versions of .NET Framework Are Installed Just make sure you take precautions before updating Windows 10. Do This Before Every Windows 10 Update or Installation Windows 10 gets major updates twice a year, plus monthly updates. We show you what you should do before running Windows Update. Now Patch Tuesday can come! WINDOWS How to Fix Your Windows 10 Update Errors With SetupDiag INTERNET , ANDROID 5 Free Apps to Turn Photos Into Art on Android, iPhone, or Web READ MORE The May 2019 Update Let’s take a look at the best new features in version 1903, the latest at the time of writing. Windows Sandbox for Testing Software Most of the changes in the May 2019 update are tweaks and refinements to existing features. One of the few brand-new tools is the Windows Sandbox. It’s only available for those on Windows 10 Pro and above, and enables you to run software in a safe environment. Latest Videos Enable the Windows 10 Sandbox To enable it, you must make sure you have virtualization features enabled on your system. To check this, open the Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Select More details if you only see a small list of apps here, then switch to the Performance tab. In the CPU section, you’ll see a Virtualization field on the right side. If this does not say Enabled, you’ll need to follow our guide to enabling virtualization on your PC. Can't Get Virtualization Working on Your PC? 5 Simple Solutions to Try Can't get virtualization to work on your system? Follow these tips to enable virtualization and enjoy virtual machines. READ MORE How to Fix the "Windows Cannot Automatically Detect PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Latest Videos Once that’s done, type Windows features into the Start menu and open the Turn Windows features on or off link. In the resulting list, find Windows Sandbox, check it, and hit OK. You’ll see a new dialog that installs some necessary files, then prompts you to restart to complete installation. How to Fix the "Windows Cannot Automatically Detect Taste Test: Frozen Pizza DOWN UNDER | TGTS S3E5 Finally, you can now search for Windows Sandbox via the Start menu. Open it and confirm admin privileges, and you’ll see a blank Windows 10 desktop after a few moments. Using the Windows 10 Sandbox Taste Test: Energy Drinks (What is V?) | TGTS S3E4 Bosma X1 Security Cam Review: A Decent Indoor From there, you have an isolated environment where you can test any Arduino Traffic Light Tutorial software you’d like. It doesn’t support dragging and dropping, but you can simply copy and paste any installers or other files you’d like to run in the sandbox. Use it to test software that you don’t trust on your main system. When you’re done, close the sandbox like you would any other app. Note that doing so will completely destroy everything inside, so you’ll have a fresh box next time you start it up. Notably, the sandbox provides an always-updated environment. This is much more streamlined than a virtual machine, which requires regular updating. Don't Buy a Raspberry Pi Until You've Seen The CrowPi All in PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Latest Deals The A to Z Microsoft Excel Certification Raus aus den Schulden Über 20 Jahren Erfahrung. Einfacher Kontakt - persönlich auch vor Ort Less Pressure With Windows Update $1600 $49 Pay What You $1115 Want: White Hat $1 Hacker Training The Complete Learn to Code Master Class $1784 $29 The 2019 Certified Data Scientist Architect $2500 $49 Affiliate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the lights on at MakeUseOf. Read more. While Microsoft releases new versions of Windows 10 roughly every six months, it still supports older versions for 18 months from their release. For example, the Windows 10 October 2018 update released in November 2018 and will receive support until May of 2020. Thanks to changes in version 1903, it’s now easier stay on an older version if you want to. Instead of forcing you to install these major updates shortly after they launch, you now have a choice in doing so. If you want to stay on a prior version, you’ll only have to upgrade after the 18-month support period passes. For people who prioritize stability and don’t care about the latest features, this is a welcome option. Additionally, the Home edition of Windows 10 now lets you pause Windows Update for a few weeks. In the past, this required the Pro edition. 7 Ways to Temporarily Turn Off Windows Update in Windows 10 Windows Update keeps your system patched and safe. In Windows 10 you're at the mercy of Microsoft's schedule unless you know hidden settings and tweaks. So, keep Windows Update under control. READ MORE PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Enter the Light Side Windows 10 Color Mode There’s been a lot of hype lately around dark themes, which Windows 10 already includes. But if you tend to prefer the opposite, you’ll be happy to discover the new light theme in Windows 10. This sets many display elements to use a lighter tone. To enable it, head to Settings > Personalization > Colors. Under Choose your color, you can select the new Light theme, Dark, or Custom. If you pick Custom, you can set separate options for your Windows mode and app mode. This lets you set Windows elements to dark while leaving apps in light mode, or vice-versa. Split Search and Cortana Windows 10 Search Icons Taskbar For a long time, Windows 10 combined Cortana and desktop search. This meant that when you opened the search panel, you’d see Cortana and her list of features. That’s a bit frustrating if you don’t care about Cortana, or would rather use both features separately. Now, you can do just that. Windows 10 features separate icons for Cortana and searching on the Taskbar. To change how they appear, right-click an empty space on the taskbar and choose Show Cortana button to toggle that. And under Search, you can select Hidden, Show search icon, or Show search box. The search bar now only looks for files on your PC and web results. You can use the tabs at the top to filter by the kind of data you’d like to find. As a result, Cortana is now relegated to voice searches. Combined with disabling all the Cortana options at Settings > Cortana > Talk to Cortana, you can essentially hide her from your view without any Registry hacks. Enhanced PC Searching Windows 10 Search Mode Speaking of searching, the built-in Windows 10 search now gives you more options. Head to Settings > Search to find them. Under Permissions & History, you’ll find options to filter explicit content in web results and what content to search from your connected Microsoft accounts. The most interesting options, however, are on the Searching Windows tab. Here, you can select a new Enhanced search mode. Before this, Windows 10 would only search your file libraries and desktop, where files are often stored. But if you select this option, Windows search will look at your entire PC. This is a handy option if you don’t keep files in libraries or just like to search everything. You can set folders to exclude from these searches below. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Miscellaneous Tweaks As it turns out, the Windows 10 May 2019 Update doesn’t have a lot of headline features. Most of the changes are tweaks to existing tools. We detail some of the most notable ones below. Spectre Speed Fixes The awful Spectre and Meltdown exploits were a big topic in 2018. Those problems caused a lot of computers to run more slowly, but the latest update claims to make improvements to this thanks to some optimizations. Meltdown and Spectre Leave Every CPU Vulnerable to Attack A huge security flaw with Intel CPUs has been uncovered. Meltdown and Spectre are two new vulnerabilities that affect the CPU. You ARE affected. What can you do about it? READ MORE Time will tell if it makes a difference. Improved Game Bar The Windows 10 Game Bar is a utility that collects many handy gaming options in one place. In the latest edition of Windows 10, it received an upgrade. You can now manage music playing from Spotify from the Game Bar, in addition to creating memes. Uninstall More Default Apps Uninstall More Windows 10 Apps One of the first tasks most people do with a new system is uninstall Windows 10 bloatware apps. In the May 2019 Update, you can uninstall more apps than previously allowed. Now you can chuck Mail, Calendar, Movies & TV, and other apps. How to Easily Remove Bloatware From Windows 10 Windows 10 comes with its own set of pre-installed apps. Let's look at the methods you can use to remove the bloatware on your PC and debloat Windows 10. READ MORE Some still won’t uninstall this way, like the Microsoft Store and Edge. But being able to remove more apps you’ll never use is a welcome change. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Log In Without a Password You can now create a Microsoft log in without a password. By providing your phone number, Microsoft will text you a login code every time you sign in. You can use this method to sign into Windows 10, then use a Windows Hello authentication method like a PIN or fingerprint for future logins. How Does Windows Hello Work and How Do I Enable It? Want secure password-free access to your computer? Windows Hello can do that, but first you need to set it up. READ MORE This is supposedly to combat password theft, so we’ll see if it becomes more mainstream. Start Menu Refinements A minor change that only affects new installs or accounts is a cleaner Start menu. It features fewer tiles, making it less cluttered. You can also now unpin groups of tiles, allowing you to remove all the obnoxious ads in one go. The October 2018 Update If you don’t want to update to the latest version of Windows 10 just yet, here are the coolest new features in the October 2018 update (version 1809). Your Phone App After its failed Windows Phone platform, Microsoft has embraced Android (and iOS to a lesser extent) with apps and cross-platform compatibility with Windows. The Your Phone app in Windows 10 takes this even further. It allows you to text and access photos on your Android phone (7.0 or later) right from your PC. You can even drag a photo from your phone onto your PC to open it in an app. iPhone users don’t get all that functionality, but they can still send webpages from their phone to computer. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE While you have many third-party options for connecting Android and Windows, seeing more built-in tools is always welcome. Continuity Alternative: 5 Best Windows Programs for Android Jealous of macOS and iOS continuity? Here are several awesome apps for making Windows and Android sync up perfectly. READ MORE Improved Screenshot Tool The basic Snipping Tool handles simple screenshot needs, but it’s lacking any power user features. In the October Update, you can check out the new Snip & Sketch tool as a replacement. Press Win + Shift + S to bring up the window and capture a screenshot. At the top, you can switch between the rectangle and freeform capture modes, or grab a full-screen shot. Once you capture an area, it’s available immediately on your clipboard. Click the resulting notification, and you can make basic edits to your screenshots like drawing and cropping. From there, you can save it, copy to your clipboard, or open it in another app for further edits. Windows 10 Snip Sketch File Explorer Dark Theme Windows 10 File Explorer Dark Windows 10 has included a dark theme for some time, but it was previously limited to Store apps. Now, enabling the Dark mode at Settings > Personalization > Colors also gives your File Explorer a dark makeover. It’s not quite as amazing as macOS Mojave’s dark mode, but it’s a welcome option if you like dark themes or often use your PC at night. Enabling this also makes your right-click menu in File Explorer and desktop dark. Improved HDR Support As 4K monitors with more powerful display options become mainstream, Windows 10 is making it easier to enable HDR if you have compatible hardware. Windows 10 has supported HDR in the past, but it wasn’t always convenient to set up. Now, you can head to Settings > System > Display and click Windows HD Color settings to configure HDR. You’ll see whether your connected displays support HDR features and can adjust them if so. Windows HD Color Start Menu Search Improvements Windows 10 Search Previews PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE The search function on the Start Menu has always been a quick way to find apps, files, settings, and more on your PC. In the latest update, it’s even easier to get to the content you want quickly. When you search for something, the menu will display a preview panel that illustrates the best results for your search. This might be Bing results for a web search, options like opening as administrator if you search for software, or previews of documents. Clipboard Improvements and History A new shortcut for the clipboard in Windows 10 lets you copy and paste across devices without any extra apps. Just press Win + V and you’ll see the new clipboard window. Windows 10 Clipboard History This gives you a native clipboard manager, letting you paste something you copied even if it’s not the most recent item. You can also pin clips you use often for easy access. Plus, Windows links your clipboard across any devices you use running the October 2018 Update or later. To configure this, take a look at Settings > System > Clipboard. Windows 10 Clipboard Options Power Usage in Task Manager Windows Power Usage Task Manager If you want to get more battery life out of your Windows laptop, you might wonder how much power apps pull. Now in the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), you can see a Power usage entry on the Processes tab. How to Optimize Windows 10 for Battery Life Battery life is a pretty important factor for mobile devices. While Windows 10 does offer new features to manage power settings, the defaults are not necessarily contributing to optimal battery life. Time to change that. READ MORE This, along with the Power usage trend field, lets you know how much energy apps use. Limit how often you keep them open, and you should see improved battery life. Bluetooth Battery Levels You can now see the battery life of connected Bluetooth devices (if supported) at Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices. Override Regional Settings Windows Change Regional Format PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Windows 10 sets some display options, like the date format and first day of the week, based on your region. Now you can override these if you like. Visit Settings > Time & Language > Region and click Change data formats to adjust them. Make Text Bigger Windows 10 now allows you to increase the size of text across the OS without scaling. Open Settings > Ease of Access > Display and drag the Make text bigger slider as you wish. Better Windows Update Automation Windows Update tries to detect when you’re not using your PC and automatically installs updates during those times. In prior versions, this wasn’t too smart and would sometimes install an update when you simply stepped away for a moment. Thankfully, the October 2018 Update makes this smarter. Windows will now better understand when you’ve stepped away for a short time or longer period now. This should result in fewer inopportune updates. Game Bar Improvements Windows 10 New Game Bar Windows 10’s Game bar is now its own app and comes with some improvements. In the latest version, you can adjust audio options right from the bar. Plus, you can see a chart showing game stats like FPS along with CPU and other hardware usage. Enable the Game bar at Settings > Gaming >Game bar. The Fall Creators Update If you’re using Windows 10 version 1709, here are the features to look out for. People App Microsoft is ramping up its social game with the People application. A new addition to the Taskbar, People allows you to contact individuals via email and Skype directly from the Taskbar. To enable, right-click the Taskbar and check the Show People button option. You can use the People app to share fun content with family and friends or to manage business contacts and projects. Whether it’s a document, PowerPoint presentation, picture, or video, just drag and drop content directly from your PC to a specific contact. Perhaps the most useful component of the People app is cross-application communication, meaning you can view communication across multiple chats and messages within a single desktop app. While only a few select applications are available for the People app (namely Xbox, Email, and Skype), Microsoft has laid the groundwork for possible Facebook and PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Twitter integration as well. That makes People a potentially fantastic default app. Mixed Reality In the original Fall Creators Update, Microsoft teased 3D editing and 3D smartphone camera modeling. Now, it’s expanded this 3D program into an entire mixed reality platform for Windows 10. How? Windows 10’s Edge browser was the first to fully support WebVR which allows users to access and interact with virtual reality projects online via the Edge browser. While this may not seem all that impressive, it’s really forward thinking from Microsoft: in some circles, the future of web development exists in 3D space. Not interested in VR projects? Why not browse Edge on a VR room wall using Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Portal (MRP)? MRP allows users to integrate a 3D experience into their desktop using Microsoft’s HoloLens. Microsoft has also developed an answer to the growing popularity of social media’s AR (augmented reality) integrations, most notably Snapchat’s face filters and 3D World Lens technology. Don’t want to spring for the HoloLens? Enjoy Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Viewer, where all you’ll need is a webcam to enjoy the augmented reality goodness Windows 10 has to offer. Simply click on your Start Menu, type mixed reality, and select the Mixed Reality Portal option to get started. It’ll be interesting to see where a tech behemoth like Microsoft will take this new form of media. OneDrive On-Demand While OneDrive is installed by default on most Windows 10 machines, few utilize its full potential. That may change with Windows 10’s On-Demand Sync. While most online repositories only allow you to upload and download files using your account, One-Drive now allows users to save files locally, upload them to the cloud, and share view links by default. That means you can upload, delete, edit, and download a variety of files and formats using OneDrive cloud storage. This saves precious local storage space and provides you peace of mind about the status of your most important documents. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Phone Link … In this age, cross-device interaction (phone to PC, TV to phone, etc.) is absolutely paramount. Microsoft has decided the close the gap even further, now providing users with the ability to link iOS and Android devices to their Windows 10 machines. To enable phone linking, type link phone into your Start Menu and click the Link your phone option. Then, enter your phone number in the following window. Linking your phone currently only allows you to share websites from your smartphone’s Edge browser to your PC via the browser’s share option. Additionally, in case you didn’t know, you can also choose to view phone notifications on your Windows 10 desktop using Cortana’s smartphone app! Though the phone notification feature was released before the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, these two quiet features show Microsoft is devoted to closing the gap between mobile and desktop. Emoji Panel … That’s right: Windows 10 is now finally equipped with its own default emoji keyboard. You can access your emoji keyboard in Windows 10 using the keyboard command Windows key + Period (.) or Windows key + Semicolon (;). While somewhat unexpected, kudos to Microsoft for giving users the Windows emoji feature they’ve long desired. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE The new emoji keyboard isn’t without its failings, though. For now, it only allows users to input one emoji at a time before exiting by default. Let’s hope Microsoft recognizes that and fixes this issue in the updates to come. Microsoft Edge Improvements The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update packs a lot into Microsoft Edge’s feature list. For one, pinning websites is as easy as heading to the website and selecting the Pin this page to the Taskbar option in your Edge browser settings panel. You can also pin websites to your Start Menu using the same process. Other aspects of Edge not previously available before include: PDF text-tospeech, enhanced PDF editing, managing permissions, bookmark importing, editing favorite (bookmark) URLs for easier lookup, and browsing on your phone and continuing on with your PC. While Edge’s new features aren’t exactly shock-and-awe, they do show Microsoft is still committed to creating a serious contender for the browser market. If Microsoft keeps this up, Edge may even become your new browser of choice. Story Remix Microsoft is venturing into the world of movie making (yet again) with its latest experiment, Story Remix. Story Remix is a feature in the Windows 10 Photos application which lets users create, edit, and score short films using pictures and video clips of whatever they desire. Like most other features in the Fall Creators Update, this is for both personal and professional use. Run a dog-grooming business and want to send customers a custom-made video of their dog’s grooming process? All you have to do is create a folder of images and videos using your Photos app and Windows will create a fantastic short film in seconds with minor interaction. Best of all, it requires no video editing knowledge! This may sound like your run-of-the-mill automatic video creating service, but it’s not. Microsoft has taken steps in integrating AI and deep learning within Story Remix, allowing advanced options like featuring select people from an aggregate selection of videos automatically. You can also add text or drawings to these videos for an added personal flair. Not only can you add flat text to a video; you can also integrate 3D models PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE integration of 3D objects and animations into the captured video. Story Remix allows you to integrate 3D models (most of which Microsoft released) seamlessly into your video, allowing users to edit and create quasi-CGI short movies without any 3D modeling or video editing experience. While not the most well-documented feature of the Fall Creators Update, it’s marvelous to note Microsoft isn’t simply giving users 3D capabilities. It’s allowing users the ability to play with and learn about 3D modeling and AG integrations. GPU Stats Windows 10 Task Manager GPU If you’re an overclock aficionado, you know how vital the performance of your PC components is. Microsoft understands this, and has taken a small step in appeasing tech geeks by having the beloved Task Manager provide real-time GPU stats. Keep in mind, you won’t be able to modify functions like fan speed via your Task Manager. You can, however, view your GPU’s utilization percentage, memory stats, driver versions, and more. Fluent Design Users have long awaited a Windows 10 UI overhaul. Slowly but surely, the wait is coming to an end. Say hello to the humble beginnings of Microsoft’s Fluent Design System, a sleek and subtle UI design project hinted at in the recent Fall Creators Update. Fluent Design promises to offer users a different type of UI experience, bringing with it such features as subtly blurred window transparency, interactive window sections, light-based color schemes, and an overall sleeker program/controller relationship. Scale, Depth, Light are the ways in which Microsoft chooses to brand the new design. Judging from what little has released, it seems Microsoft is moving on to bigger, better, smoother, and more integrated UI design. As it stands, you can already view a few aspects of the UI in the latest version of Windows, with small apps like the Windows 10 Calculator and the newly released People app. PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Linux Integration In another big move for Microsoft, the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update now allows users to install Linux distributions directly from the Microsoft Store and onto their Windows machines. Keep in mind, this feature doesn’t equal a dual boot. You won’t be able to use the mouse and keyboard version of Ubuntu, for example. Instead, the Fall Creators Update allows users to run Bash commands using different Linux distros directly within the Windows 10 environment. To install Ubuntu on Windows, click the Start Menu and type windows features. Then click on the Turn Windows features on or off option. In the following window, locate and check the Windows Subsystem for Linux option. Windows 10 enable Linux Click OK. You’ll be prompted to restart your PC. Once restarted, head to the Microsoft Store by clicking the Start Menu, typing store, and selecting the Microsoft Store option. Search for linux within this window. You’ll see a prompt mentioning Linux distributions. Click Get the apps and proceed to install your favorite. Windows 10 Install Linux from Store That’s it—you’re officially running a full-fledged Linux distribution right alongside Windows 10. Windows 10 Is Always Improving Now you’re aware of all the cool features to check out in the latest Windows 10 version. Microsoft makes a lot of tweaks with every update, so it’s worth updating when you’re ready for something new. We’ll update this resource each time a new major update to Windows 10 releases. For more, check out the most overlooked Windows 10 features you should know about. The 10 Most Overlooked Windows 10 Features Windows 10 has lots of features, but you may have overlooked some of them. Let's look at 10 Windows 10 features you don't want to miss! READ MORE Image Credit: realinemedia/Depositphotos Explore more about: Windows 10, Windows Update, Windows Upgrade. Enjoyed this article? Stay informed by joining our newsletter! [email protected] Submit PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDWARE Read our privacy policy WRITE A COMMENT Sonnenbrille Freeform Technik Gleitsicht-Sonnenbrille jetzt zum Frühbucherpreis für nur 109 €* sichern! brillen.de When Windows 10 Support Ends 10 Version You Must Know About 10 Update and Servicing Branches Explained Every Windows 10 Update or Installation Fix Slow Boot Times in Windows 10 Fix 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10 10 Performance and Make It Feel Faster Most Overlooked Windows 10 Features © 2019 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved. 7 COMMENTS
