All You Need To Know About The Windows 10 Anniversary Update

All You Need To Know About The Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Issues

Windows 10 has been arguably the most successful Windows yet from Microsoft. With over 350 Million users at the time of this writing, it is currently the second most used operating system. The leader of the pack is the old and faithful Windows 7. However, things will change once the large enterprise accounts moves over to Windows 10. The Windows Anniversary update is the second major update post Windows 10 release back in 2015. Here is all you need to know about the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Here is a glimpse of the Operating Systems market-share across major platforms

What’s New in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update

More Secure with Additional Security Features: Windows 10 uses Virtualization Based Security or VBS using which a virtual security layer is created between sensitive Windows components and the user environment. Using virtual extensions of the processor  (Like AMD V or Intel VT) Windows 10 provides key security improvements. Features like SmartScreen prevents users using Internet Explorer or Edge from entering Malicious websites. Microsoft Edge also provides “AppContainer” sand-boxing that isolates the browser, browser plugins and extensions from the rest of Windows 10. Windows Defender, the free malware program for Windows 10 also get’s an update. You can now schedule for a full system scan. New Windows Hello makes easy unlocking of Windows, yet secure. Learn more.

New Redesigned Start Menu

The Start menu is slightly tweaked to give you more options and customization. The new menu system is designed to minimize clicks and is much easier to find stuff. Instead of searching through “All Apps” the full app list is visible in the start menu. However, suggested app advertisements have visibly increased over the previous release.

Introducing BASH shell on Windows 10:

Based on the Ubuntu Bash shell, this is an optional feature on Windows. In order to use BASH, you need to first install the Linux Sub-system. Known as WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) install the add-on from the “Turn Windows Feature On or Off” menu. Select “Windows Subsystem for Linux” from the menu option. Once this is complete, you can install BASH. Go-to command prompt, type “BASH” and accept the terms of Ubuntu. Once, this is done, you will need to download Ubuntu 14.04 userspace which will run on top of WSL. Typically the download size is close to a gigabyte. This is not a typical Linux kernel, but a userspace running on top of WSL. Think of this as WOW64, where instead of Windows, this runs Ubuntu Linux. With this Add-On, you can run Ruby, Git, Python directly on Windows.

Windows Ink Support

Source: Microsoft Windows Blog

Even though Windows always had a strong pen input support, Windows Ink takes it to a whole new level. Hybrids like the Microsoft Surface already provides strong hardware support to Windows 10. With the Windows 10 anniversary update and Windows Ink support, you can use sketching, sticky notes in addition to Web Notes (Using Edge browser) and OneNote support that you already had. New Apps from Autodesk and Adobe are now available on the Windows Store to take full advantage of this feature. Using the Windows Ink Work-space you can use features like screen sketch, sticky notes and other Ink powered apps in a common canvas. Learn More.

Microsoft Edge Extensions

Just like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge now provides extensions. Extensions such as Pinterest, Amazon, Adblock etc. are coming to the Microsoft Edge browser.

Power Efficiency: Microsoft also claims lesser CPU cycles, less memory usage and efficient usage of background tasks.

Windows Blog

Cortana becomes Smarter

With the Windows 10 anniversary update, Cortana is now available on the Windows lock-screen. You can directly play a music or set a reminder without the need to unlock the screen. 3rd Party apps needs to be Cortana enabled in order to take full advantage of using the lock-screen. Just like Google Now, you can get your flight information, traffic information or parking location available on the lock-screen. This experience will be universal across devices like PC, Tablet or Phones. Cortana also supports contextually aware commands. For example “Send Raj the word document I was working on last night”. Other suggestions include coupon codes while online shopping on Edge etc. Cortana also brings your Android, ios and Windows mobile device notifications to your desktop. You would need to install the Cortana App from the respective App Stores in order to receive notifications and system alerts (Low Battery) to your Windows 10 desktop. Learn more.

Black Theme

Windows 10 now provides a high contrast Full Black theme, without the need for any custom tweaking. You can go-to Settings>Personalization>Colors in order to change the settings.

Windows Hello Improvements

You can now use Windows Hello secure biometric authentication beyond the Windows Login screen. You can now use Windows Hello to authenticate Store Apps and Websites (Using Edge Browser). Note that full website authentication will be supported once FIDO 2.0 standard is officially rolled out. You need to wait for a couple of months.

Connect app For Windows Mobile 10

This new App lets you connect to your Windows Mobile 10 device using the Continuum feature tirelessly. You don’t need any additional adapters, Miracast etc. The phone environment simply runs inside your Windows desktop environment.

New Universal Skype App

The new app for Skype is completed baked into the operating system. You can now get chat notifications on the notification panel. You can reply directly from there, or open the App for the complete experience.

Xbox Play Anywhere

With this feature you can play XBOX games on your Windows Desktop or on your XBOX. You would need XBOX play anywhere enabled games and the good news is that, a lot of them are in the pipeline. Forza Horizons, Gears of War and other upcoming titles are expected to work on this new feature.

Action Center Enhancements

From setting priority levels to individual apps to limiting the number of notifications, the new Action Center gives you all. By default, any app sending more than three notifications will be hidden.

Taskbar Enhancements

The Taskbar becomes cleaner and more useful with the Windows 10 Anniversary update. Say goodbye to the classic calendar and say hello to a more modern calendar baked into the taskbar.

Apart from what I have mentioned above, there are several minor updates, tweaks and performance improvements all across the board. Download the Windows 10 anniversary update for now and enjoy the free features.

Official Link: Windows Blog