Microsoft’s fresh bid to make Cortana, Edge, Cross Device smarter
Windows 10 Creators update gets new features which will make Cortana virtual assistant work better, the Edge web browser more stable and improve collaboration between smartphones and PCs
Microsoft has slipped in some new features into the Windows 10 Fall Creators update through the latest Insider Preview Build 16251 for PC and Build 15235 for mobile. These will be available to developers who have signed up for the Windows Insider program. The rest of the users will have to wait until the release of the Fall Creators update which is expected sometime after September.
The Fall Creators update is the next major update to Windows 10 after the Summer Creators update, which was released in April 2017 and the Anniversary update, released in August 2016.
The features added through the Insider Preview will enhance the capabilities of the Edge browser, Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana, and will also improve cross-device browsing between a smartphone and a Windows PC.
Easier Cross device browsing
The first feature that will be available in Creators update is designed to improve Cross device browsing. So if a user is looking at a webpage in smartphone and wants to look at it immediately on a bigger screen, he doesn’t have to search for the story again in the desktop browser. With this new feature, the user can open a web page on the desktop browser by simply tapping on the Continue on PC option in the share section on the mobile browser.
The user will have the option to save the webpages to open at a later time by selecting the Continue later button. The feature will work with both Android smartphones and Apple iPhones.
Improving Cortana
Microsoft is trying to make Cortana more useful by adding the option to carry out mundane tasks such as restarting, locking or shutting down the PC through voice commands. So if your hands are occupied, you can simply ask the virtual assistant to do it.
Also, the user can now see details of specific search results in the Cortana pane itself and won’t have to go the web browser for it. For tasks such as flight status, movie timings, stock prices and weather updates the Cortana pane will expand and save a trip to the web browser for every little query.
The voice commands in Cortana will only be available to the English-speaking user initially, but will be available in other languages soon.
Making Edge Browser better
The new update brings a number of fixes for the Edge browser app. Microsoft claims the update will minimize hang and crash in the app. Issues such as PDF not opening after refresh or not fitting into the page have been resolved. Webpages in tablet mode will no longer be rescaled with narrow viewport width which gives it a slightly compressed look. Web pages in tablet mode will look more immersive now.
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FIRST PUBLISHED28.07.2017 | 12:16 PM IST
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