What’s New in the Big November Windows 10 Update
Windows 10 is getting its first major update today with a number of features you requested, such as colored title bars, fixes to the Start menu, and (finally!) The best way to activate your Windows 10 license.
You can finally activate with Windows 7 and 8 keys
Now when you install Windows 10, you can activate it with your Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 product key. None of this ” install Windows 7, then update, then reinstall from scratch ” just to do a clean install of Windows 10. Everything should now run much smoother, and although it won’t affect your computers that already have it installed Windows. 10 on them (since they’ll be automatically activated by the hardware), any computers you haven’t upgraded yet should be much simpler.
New improvements have been made to the start menu
The Start menu will not appeal to Windows 7 fans, but this update introduces several improvements. You can now stretch columns up to four tiles wide (Settings> Personalization> Start> Show More Tiles), and the Start menu as a whole can have more than 512 tiles – 2,048 to be exact. Context menus have also gotten a more consistent look (although they still don’t align with desktop menus, just with each other).
The Windows 10 Start Menu has always had “Recommended Apps” that you are encouraged to install from time to time. Fortunately, this update has an easy way to turn this off: just go to Settings> Personalization> Start and turn off the “Show suggestions on start menu occasionally” option.
Colored title bars are back
It was a bit silly that Windows 10 allowed you to customize the color of the Start menu and taskbar, but did not allow you to customize the colors of the title bars of windows, which, no matter what, remained white. Now if you go to Settings> Personalization> Colors and check the box next to Show color on Start, Taskbar, Action Center, and Title Bar, your color settings will also appear in all windows on your desktop.
Windows has a built-in Find My Device feature
We’ve always recommended installing an app like Prey to find and track your stolen laptop, and while it’s still a great option with tons of features, you don’t need to do that anymore! Windows has a new built-in Find My Device feature that monitors your laptop or tablet if it is lost or stolen. Just go to Settings> Update & Security> Find My Device and click Save my device’s location periodically to turn it on.
Cortana learns a few new tricks
Fans of Cortana will love this update as the Personal Assistant knows even better what you want. Cortana (now available in Canada, Japan, Australia, and India) can now understand handwritten notes, track movies and other tickets from your email, alert you to coupons for sites you visit in Edge, and sync your messages and call history. from your Windows phone and notify you of missed calls on your desktop (you’ll find them in Cortana settings). Cortana can even put your computer to sleep when it knows you are out of the office (Settings> System> Power & Sleep).
And above all, Cortana finally works with local accounts, so you don’t need a Microsoft account to take advantage of the benefits.
Other minor improvements
These are big changes, but you will also find some nice new features:
- Tablet mode now works a lot more than Windows 8: you can minimize apps by dragging their thumbnails to the bottom of the screen while in task view, and multitasking now resizes both apps at the same time when you split them on the same screen.
- In Settings> Devices> Printers & Scanners, you now have the option to let Windows manage your default printer. If enabled, your default printer will be the one you last used.
- You can turn off the default Windows background on the lock screen and just use a regular color. Go to Settings> Personalization> Lock Screen to change this setting.
- Microsoft Edge can now sync your favorites and Reading List across Windows 10 devices, and gives you a preview of your tabs when you hover over them.
- Skype is now built into Windows 10 as three apps: Skype Video, Messaging, and Phone. However, you can still download the regular Skype app.
- Tablets and other low memory devices allow you to install new apps anywhere, such as on your SD card. You will find this option under Settings> System> Storage.
There is a lot going on with this update, but these are major and minor changes that will be important to most people. There are also many internal performance improvements for load times and other tasks, so you should notice some performance improvements.
To download the update, go to Settings> Update & Security and check for updates. Note, however, that the update seems to be rolling out slowly – my desktop got the update right away, but my laptop still shows up as “updated,” so you might have to be patient. You can read more about the update from the links below.
First Major Windows 10 Update Available Today | Windows blog
Windows 10 November Update – Features, Changes, and Improvements | Windows Central
Update: We originally said that the suggested apps in the Start menu were new in this update, although actually disabling them is the only new feature. We have corrected the article accordingly.