Windows 10’s latest updates,version 1903

version 1903

Feature update to Windows 10

Windows 10 version 1903, May 2019 Update, is the next major release available for compatible devices starting May 21, 2019. This is the first of two feature updates coming in 2019, and it delivers several new features and improvements meant to enhance the experience.

The new version isn’t a massive update, but it’s a smaller release that includes many incremental changes and a few new features around performance, design, security, and productivity.

Windows 10 Search

Search isn’t new to Windows 10, but in previous versions this feature was part of the Cortana experience, and now, beginning with version 1903, Cortana and Search are splitting into two separate features.

Cortana gets smarter 

Microsoft has been working with recent acquisition Semantic Machines, building a new and improved conversational AI technology into Cortana. This tech will help Cortana be more helpful, providing more sophisticated answers rather than unhelpful canned answers to your queries.

If, for example, you’re planning a trip to attend an event, Cortana will reference previous information in order to better suggest flights, hotels, restaurants and more. 

 Windows 10 Light theme

Starting with version 1903, Windows 10 is introducing a true system-wide light theme that brings light colors to the Start menu, Action Center, taskbar, touch keyboard, and other elements. The new color scheme is available selecting the Light option under “Choose your color” drop-down menu from the “Colors” settings page.

A better Start menu

Microsoft has continued to tweak the Start Menu, and the changes it's made in the Windows 10 May 2019 are definitely welcome.

First of all, the Start menu when you first use the update is much less cluttered, with tiles and shortcuts for pre-installed apps not taking up as much space.

However, there are still a number of apps and games that come pre-installed, and there are probably some that you don't want to use. With the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, you can now uninstall more pre-installed apps that you used to.

Another notable change comes in the form of switching the Start menu to have its own dedicated process.

That might sound like a complex change under the bonnet, but the only noticeable ramification for the user will be that the Start menu runs more smoothly, and is protected from potential issues which might be caused by other areas of the OS.

The end result is a more reliable Start menu, according to Microsoft, and a more responsive one too, because Start doesn’t suspend itself any longer, so that makes for a slightly quicker launch time.

Chromium-based Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge has been struggling to gain a foothold for years now, and the Windows 10 May 2019 Update has a solution. Microsoft’s native browser, which means it will be open sourced, and will have more compatibility with popular websites and plugins.

But, this is more than just a simple port of Chrome, Microsoft Edge has some new features to offer. The biggest of these is the “Internet Explorer Mode.” There’s little love for Internet Explorer, but the fact is that there are plenty of websites out there that are incompatible with modern browsers – this Internet Explorer mode fixes that problem.

There are also new privacy features, a new “Fluid Framework” for developers to create better interactive experiences enhanced by AI and a Collections feature that will let people collect, organize and share content from across the web. 

 Brightness control

Starting with the Windows 10 version 1903, Action Center adds a new slider to quickly adjust the brightness of the screen.

Mouse customization

Another best feature available with the May 2019 Update is the ability to customize the pointer with any color and size you feel is appropriate.

PC’s Storage Reserved for Updates

Windows Updates can fail to install properly if your PC doesn’t have enough free disk space. This can be a problem on inexpensive devices with only a small amount of built-in storage.

Microsoft is solving the problem by commandeering about 7 GB of your PC’s storage and making it into reserved storage This space is used for Windows Updates, but programs can also store temporary files here. When Windows needs the space for updates, it deletes the temporary files and performs the update. So space isn’t completely wasted, as files that would have normally used space on your computer will just sit in the reserved storage space.

The exact amount of storage space used depends on the optional features and languages you have installed, but it starts at about 7 GB.

You can now pause updates

The Windows 10 May 2019 Update will allow people using Windows 10 Home edition to pause Windows updates for a set number of days.

This is a very handy feature that allows you a bit of breathing room when an update is released. It gives you time to check out to make sure that the update is working correctly, and if there are issues, you can pause the update until they've been fixed.

In a perfect world, a new Windows update would arrive without any problems, but as we've seen in the past, that rarely happens. This features has been available to Enterprise and professional Windows 10 users, so it's good to see it come to the Home version as well.