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You can now try out Windows Ink and Cortana on the lockscreen in the latest Windows 10 test build

By Ng Chong Seng - on 25 Apr 2016, 10:42am

You can now try out Windows Ink and Cortana on the lockscreen in the latest Windows 10 test build

Last month, Microsoft announced that an Anniversary Update is coming in the summer for Windows 10. If you’re a tester, you can already try out many of these new features, such as Bash on Windows and the Skype UWP app.

A newer Build 14328 has just dropped recently, and it's huge one for the PC because this is the first build where you can try out the new Windows Ink experience. If you've a device with an active pen like the Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book, the new Windows Ink Workspace (basically a place that houses all ink-related features and apps) is enabled by default and accessible via the pen button in the notification area of your taskbar. You can learn more about Windows Ink in this blog post.

Also new is this build is an updated Start experience. Briefly, Microsoft has merged the most used apps list and the All Apps list into a single view. Power, Settings, and File Explorer are relocated so that they are always visible in the left rail in the Start menu, and the Recently Added section now shows three entries instead of one (you can of course expand it to see more). The full-screen All Apps list has also returned for Start if you’re on a tablet, and you can now choose to auto-hide the taskbar in tablet mode.

The Cortana personal assistant is available on the lockscreen, too, which means you can get questions answered without having to first unlock your device. And you can create reminders based on photos and from universal apps that utilize the share contract. In fact, for simple stuff, you can use Cortana without any setup or sign-in. Also, email addresses are now hidden on the lockscreen (because you know, privacy) and media control will now appear embedded at the bottom right corner, along with a picture of the album art from the song currently playing.

On the Action Center side, the focus this time in on notification clarity. There’s now a badge that shows you the number of notifications you’ve missed, and there will be subtle animations based on the app’s logo for notifications that don’t show a toast, so that you know where they come from. Individual app notifications also won’t show the app icon repeated for each notification.

Even the taskbar is seeing a lot of changes in this build. The clock now integrates with your calendar, so it’s easier to check your schedule; the clock will also appear on each taskbar in a multi-monitor setup; and badges (for contextual notifications) will appear for universal apps on the taskbar in addition to their Live Tiles and in Action Center. Additionally, when you click on the volume button, you’ll be able to switch between multiple audio output devices via the flyout.

Really, there’s a lot of new stuff to pour over in this latest build, including minor ones that I’ve not gone through, like the updated File Explorer icon, improvements for Japanese IME, and the updated UI when entering credentials. For more details, including what’s fixed from the previous build and outstanding issues, it’s wise to check out Microsoft’s blog post.

(Note, for Windows 10 Mobile, the bigger update was actually in the earlier Build 14327, which brought the ‘Messaging Everywhere’ preview. As the name suggests, it lets you send and receive text messages from your phone directly from your Windows 10 PCs.)

Source: Microsoft.

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