Microsoft’s Build Developer Conference took place between March 30th and April 1st, 2016, and from there the company shared a few new features of the next Windows 10 update that’s coming this summer; some of which like the new Maps app features were already shown a couple of weeks earlier. Later on May 5th, Microsoft also took the time to remind everyone that the free upgrade of Windows 10 will end on July 29th as promised last year.
New Windows 10 Maps app features
Let us start with the Windows 10 Maps app features. If you’re already heavily invested in the Windows 10 ecosystem, the news that HERE Maps will be pulled from support on Windows-based devices including those on Windows 10, might bum a few of you out. Well, good news; on March 17th, Microsoft announced that besides architectural improvements to its Maps app to allow faster updates as well as to improve performance, Microsoft also rolled out a bunch of new Maps features for Windows Insiders on that day.
The biggest feature added to this build is the ability to perform multiple searches and view them on a single map, at the same time. As an example, during your trip, you could search for hotels and restaurants and have the results displayed on the same maps view. If you don’t want the layered results, you can also open new tabs (kind of like a web browser) to perform searches and get directions that way.
To keep the user experience unique to each form factor, Maps for Windows 10 now has its navigation UI moved to the top for desktops, and to the bottom for phones. Especially on the phone, this move makes it way easier to operate Maps with one hand.
Click to view slideshow.Search results now have labels directly on the map instead of referencing numbers on the search list. Countries that offer nearby search now have closer and better search results due to improvements to its algorithms. Search results, directions, and location info can now be minimized to allow more view of the map. The 3D cities feature now has a search function. You can now add note to your favorites, not to mention that the said favorites are also available offline. Turn-by-turn directions is now available in Cortana’s voice, if enabled. That turn-by-turn view is not only for driving, but it’s now available for public transit directions too. And finally, improvements in the UI have been made to refine the layout and glanceability when using Maps in landscape view.
All these new improvements, are on top of the already robust features of Windows 10 Maps including local search, offline capabilities, 3D cities view, and street imagery. This new Maps app has been available since Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14291 for PC and Mobile.
If you’re on Windows 10, your feedback can be submitted via the Feedback app here.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update
During Build 2016, Microsoft started by proudly announcing that there were now 270 million active Windows 10 devices in the world (that number is higher now; more on this later). It was only eight months since Windows 10’s launch, and its growth outpaced Windows 7 in the same timeframe by 145%. More than 75 billion hours of use have been logged, and apparently it also has the highest customer satisfaction of any version of Windows before it.
Microsoft celebrated this by announcing that “this summer” it will be releasing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, free for all Windows 10 installs. Windows 10 was launched to the public on July 29th 2015, so this Anniversary update should arrive around that time.
The first major feature of the Anniversary Update is that Windows Hello, the biometric security feature, now extends its reach to third-party Windows apps as well as the Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft said studies have shown that over 80% of folks use the same password across multiple websites, managing around 20–30 accounts that require passwords. With the iris-scanning and fingerprint-sensing feature of Windows Hello, it should encourage users to create unique passwords for each site, and let Windows Hello be the master password of sorts to authenticate Edge’s saved passwords, or third-party apps like LastPass.
Microsoft claims that more than 70% of us use a pen for more than one hour each day (not sure where it got the data from; I haven’t touched my pen in weeks). With this new update, Microsoft brings an all-new experience called Windows Ink, that emulates the intuitiveness of good ol’ pen and paper. It lets you, with a Windows 10 touch display and a compatible stylus, write on it as you would on paper, create sticky notes, draw on a whiteboard (app), and easily share your analog scribblings to other apps. Windows Ink will work on Maps, Edge, and Office, but Microsoft is also letting developers to easily incorporate Windows Ink features to their third-party apps with as little as two lines of code.
There are already almost 1,000 apps that could work with Cortana, and Microsoft has curated some of them in a section called Cortana Collection in the Windows Store. With Anniversary Update, Cortana can proactively make suggestions throughout the day, like reminding you to order lunch or book a ride; this is all based on the apps installed as well as your schedule on the calendar. Cortana will be available on the lock screen for common tasks without needing to unlock the PC. Perhaps the most exciting feature of all is the ability for Android or Windows phones to mirror actionable notifications to the PC’s Action Center. It will already work on Windows 10 Mobile, but on Android, you’ll have to install the Cortana app. All that being said, Cortana is not officially available in Malaysia and you’ll have to jump through some hoops to get it working.
Finally, Windows 10 Anniversary Update brings background music and Cortana to the Xbox One (yet another Microsoft product that’s not officially available here). You can call Cortana to recommend new games, find challenges, or offer tips and tricks. There will be a Unified Windows Store where developers can easily make Universal Windows Platform (UWP) games for both Xbox One and other Windows 10 devices. Also, the Xbox One can now be converted into a developer kit with Xbox Dev Mode, allowing developers to develop their games from the living room. Games on Windows 10 PCs with this update also support multiple GPUs or the ability to turn off V-Sync.
Windows 10 upgrade free until July 29th 2016
Just a little over a month after Build 2016, Microsoft now says that there are over 300 million active Windows 10 devices out there. It is also quick to remind everyone that the free upgrade for eligible devices will end on July 29th 2016, just like it initially promised. Most have speculated (or hoped) that Microsoft may ease up on this and extends its free offer for another year (or indefinitely), but looks like Microsoft is not budging.
After July 29th, Windows 10 Home is going for RM629.99, and Windows 10 Pro will set you back RM1,099.
Here are the rest of the milestones of Windows 10 that Microsoft shared:
- Users have spent over 63 million minutes on the Microsoft Edge browser, a 50% growth since last quarter;
- Cortana has helped answer over 6 billion queries on Windows 10 since its launch;
- There are over 9 billion hours of gameplay on Windows 10 logged;
- Millions of people have used the built-in Windows 10 apps like Photos, Groove Music, and Movies & TV, with 144 million people using Photos alone;
- Windows Store continues to grow with newly-released UWP apps such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram; recently-updated UWP apps like Hulu, Netflix, Twitter, and Vine; and Triple-A PC game titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Quantum Break.
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