Microsoft today released a new Dev build to Insiders. The release is Windows 10 Build 21337, and it brought tons of new features, both prominent and secretively hidden. Let's check them out.
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Virtual Desktops
The first major change is made to Task View, also known as Virtual Desktops. Finally, Windows 10 allows you to rename and re-arrange your virtual desktops.
You can now re-order the desktops from the context menu, using the ALT + Shift + Left / Right Arrow shortcut keys, or with drag-and-drop.
Also, you can set an individual wallpaper for each of the desktops.
- Under Settings > Personalization > Background, left click a background to change the background for the active Virtual Desktop.
- Right clicking a background on this Settings page has a new option to change the background for a specific Virtual Desktop.
Auto HDR Preview for PC
When Auto HDR is enabled on your HDR capable gaming PC, you will automatically get awesome HDR visuals on an additional 1000+ DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games. More details here.
File Explorer Layout Update
File Exporer now has extra padding between controls and files. This make the app more touch friendly and gives it a consistent look when running side by side with Store apps. The classic density can be enabled via a setting in View Options called “Use compact mode,”.
Updates to Captions Settings
Check out Settings > Ease of Access > Hearing > Captions to see the new configuration options. The following screenshot demonstrates the updated look of the Captions page.
Inbox app updates
- Notepad is finally receiving updates from the Store. It also has a new icon and has been promoted out of the Windows Accessories folder to its own place in the Start menu.
- Windows Terminal now included as an inbox app.
- Power Automate Desktop now included as an inbox app.
- WordPad is no longer the default text editor for some text file formats. Instead, those associations now handled by Word and Notepad.
Besides the above, there is a huge list of fixes and known issues that can be found in the official announcement.
Now, let's talk about the hidden features in this release.
Hidden features in Windows 10 build 21337
The below features are hidden and not accessible by default. You need to use something like ViveTool to unblock them.
- The Settings app now includes a working Device Usage page. Here's how it looks.
- Windows Spotlight can be finally set as your desktop background. When enabled, it adds a "Learn about this picture" button to the desktop. Clicking on it opens Bing with extra details and image credits.
- The touch keyboard has got plenty of customization options.
Thanks to Albacore for his findings.
The Dev Channel, formerly known as the Fast Ring, reflects the latest changes made to the Windows code base. It is a work-in-progress, so the changes you see in Dev Channel releases may not appear in the upcoming feature update. So we can expect to see some features which may never appear in stable Windows 10 versions on Desktop.
If you have configured your device to receive updates from the Dev Channel/Fast Ring, open Settings - > Update & recovery and click on the Check for Updates button on the right. This will install the latest available Insider Preview of Windows 10.
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Finally some (truly) good changes. The improvements for virtual desktops have been requested by many people, and look promising. A big plus is that you can revert Explorer to the normal density. It’s nice (and surprising) that they don’t force the waste of space on desktop users.
More stupid moves by Microsoft. The default file explorer should be in compact mode. Most computers don’t use touch screens… So having this mode as default is completely stupid.
Would it be possible to use Dynamic Theme or Bing Wallpaper on one virtual desktop and a static wallpaper on another?