Windows 10 taskbar gets optional weather & news feed widget
A test version of Windows 10 adds an optional widget to the taskbar. This shows, among other things, weather forecasts and a news overview. It is not yet known when the feature will be available for the regular version of Windows 10.
The feature will be introduced in build version 21286 of Windows 10, which is now available to Insiders running the OS in the Dev channel. The taskbar widget is only available to test users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India at the time of writing. In addition, users must have installed the new Microsoft Edge browser based on Chromium to use the feature.
The news overview and the weather forecasts are shown on the right side of the taskbar. A preview shows the current outside temperature. When users click on the widget, an overview with news articles appears, among other things. The company claims to use a network with 4,500 different media for this.
News articles can be rated within the widget, learning user preferences. Microsoft states that “tracking by third parties and advertisers may be restricted.” The taskbar widget can also be disabled. Users can also display other widgets in the overview. For example, a screenshot from Microsoft shows stock prices and results of sports competitions.
Furthermore, with test version 21286, users can manage their storage devices in the settings menu of Windows 10. This allows users, for example, to create or delete disk volumes. Also, commands in the Windows Subsystem for Linux function can be executed immediately when it is started.
Image via Microsoft