Windows 10 April 2018 Update: the 10 best new features

The latest Microsoft Windows 10 update is coming today for PCs and tablets. Like the previous Fall Creators Update, it is full of small features that improve Windows 10. Microsoft is only adding a main feature with this update, and it's the Timeline feature that allows you to continue from where you left off on several Windows 10 machines. [19659002] Elsewhere you can easily share, fast Bluetooth pairing, a dictation feature and the ability to mute tabs in Microsoft Edge. Microsoft also continues to modify and improve the Fluent Design system that it introduced with the Fall Creator Update. You will notice more scroll effects when you are using the mouse in the Start menu or in the notification center, and there will be a new blur effect in the taskbar. I have been testing the Windows 10 April 2018 update for months now, and these are my new favorite additions.

The timeline is the most important new feature here and replaces the task view button that shows which applications are currently running. a system. The timeline allows you to see what applications are running, but also what applications and activities you have used on your Windows 10 PC in the last 30 days. These activities and applications are synchronized across multiple machines, so if you have been using a laptop for a document, you can easily perform the same activity on a desktop PC where you have also logged in.

You can also combine the Timeline with Microsoft Edge for iOS and Android, and access the browser history of the smartphone on your PC. Microsoft is updating its Edge mobile applications to support this, and is one of the main reasons why you can use Timeline. If you are concerned about the privacy aspects of having documents, applications, and activity history in your Task View, Microsoft disables device synchronization by default and can disable activity history.

Windows has had a variety of dictation tools over the years, but Microsoft is creating a quick way to access the built-in version of Windows 10 with the April 2018 update. You can run it with the keyboard shortcut of the key Windows + H, and will allow you to dictate in any application. I even wrote this part of the article using the dictation tool, and if you have a good microphone it works very well.

Recently, Chrome added muting tabulation, and now Microsoft is providing the same function to Edge. You can mute noisy and annoying websites with this feature, and avoid any audio blast from your speakers. Microsoft has also modified the performance and design of Edge. Microsoft Edge certainly feels better as a default browser with this update, but it still needs to work to really compete with Chrome.

Microsoft is also adding support for Progressive Web Applications (PWA) in this April 2018 update. PWAs are essentially web applications, but are fully supported by Google, Apple, and now Microsoft in mobile operating systems and desktop. This could improve the situation of the Windows 10 application, and we hope to hear much more about PWA for Windows 10 at Microsoft's Build conference in May.

Scaling desktop applications has always been a problem in Windows, but this last April 2018 the update tries to make blurry applications a thing of the past. Windows 10 will now detect if an application is blurry due to a monitor change or if you connected a laptop, and will try to scale it better to prevent applications from scaling too small or blurry.

Microsoft is adding a great new audio features with this Windows update April 10, 2018. You can now configure audio input devices or output by application. You can make the Spotify sound fly out of your speakers, while your browser audio is transmitted through a headset. The new audio configuration allows you to customize both input and output per application, so it is also useful if you use different microphones in a variety of applications.

Microsoft is adding a simple and fast way to link Bluetooth accessories. Windows 10 will now generate a notification to quickly connect to a Bluetooth peripheral and link it. At the moment, Microsoft is supporting its Surface Precision Mouse, and the company is working with Logitech and others to ensure that the additional hardware is compatible with this fast way to pair Bluetooth in the future.

Have you ever bothered with Windows Defender notifications that tell you Microsoft antivirus has just scanned your machine and it's okay? Yes, who cares? With the Windows update on April 10, 2018, you can now suppress these notifications so they do not tell you every time a successful scan is performed.

Nearby sharing allows you to easily share websites, photos or documents on nearby Windows 10 machines. It's not a feature you'll probably use frequently, but it works through Bluetooth and is similar to Apple's AirDrop feature. You can share on devices that are colleagues or close friends, and it's much faster than sending an email through a file. Nearby sharing is disabled by default, and you can configure it to only receive files from your own devices or from all those nearby. We hope Microsoft will add the option to customize this even more in the future so that it can only be received from contacts.

Microsoft is changing and updating its do-not-disturb mode for Windows 10 with this new update. Formerly known as Silent Hours, Focus Assistance is a smarter way to stop the notifications that appear when you're busy. Focus Assist will now automatically mute notifications when you play or project your presentation on a screen. This stops annoying notifications during a game session, or equally important meetings when you do not want your emails, messages and other notifications to be shown to the entire conference room.

You can also allow certain applications to go out and still trigger notifications, which is useful if you have a messaging application that you still want to see notifications while you play a game.

Microsoft is making some sharp changes focused on games for Windows 10 with this update. Now you can customize graphics performance per game, allowing you to set up games with high performance or energy savings. This is particularly useful if you are using a laptop that is capable of playing, but you want certain games not to get the best performance to save battery. The new feature is available in "graphics settings" in the main configuration application. Microsoft is also redesigning the Xbox game bar so it now has a white or black theme with this update.