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Man, that was a busy week of Windows 10 news. BUILD happened, which means naturally, this was a busier week than usual when it comes to Windows 10 content. This week kicked off with the unveiling of Aero and Cortana improvements coming in build 10074. One of the most requested features for return in Windows 10 is blurred transparency, something which can be found in Windows 7 today. The recent Insider builds of Windows 10 have slowly been adding transparency, however Microsoft has finally taken it a step further by ‘aero-ifying’ it and adding the blur effect back into the Taskbar and Start Menu in the most recent builds of the operating system.
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Up next, build 10074 was released to Insiders, which introduced said Aero blur and Cortana improvements. Build 10074 is very similar to build 10102 which we saw leak via screenshots and video earlier today, meaning the new Cortana stuff as well as sounds and blur effect are included. Another thing to note is that this build is no longer referred to as “Technical Preview.” Instead, Microsoft is referring to this build as “Insider Preview” which makes sense considering we are inching closer to a final release. Give the video a play below and let us know what you like in build 10074 and what you’d like to see improved.
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Furthermore, Microsoft announced to the world that porting Android and iOS apps to Windows 10 would be a thing. Microsoft cleared up their messaging regarding their involvement with Android. Starting today Android and iOS developers will have the ability to port their apps and games to the Windows platform. The Windows team has been quietly at work on developer kits that allow Android and iOS developers to engage with Windows. When it comes to Android development, developers can continue to use Java and C++ code while developing for Windows 10. For iOS developers, they can continue to use their existing Objective-C code.
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Microsoft finally unveiled the official name for Project Spartan too, now called Microsoft Edge. Spartan will be known from this point onwards as Microsoft Edge, and will be the default browser in Windows 10. For those who don’t know, Edge includes new annotating features, as well as Cortana integration and more. Microsoft Edge is also replacing Internet Explorer, although IE will be present in Windows 10 too for those who need it for compatibility reasons. Microsoft Edge is the company’s new browser, giving browsing the web a breath of new life. Furthermore, Microsoft Edge will use an updated version of the ‘e’ logo which is widely known for Internet Explorer.
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Tablet mode is also being improved, as shown off by Microsoft at BUILD. The Start Screen now hides the Apps List in a hamburger menu, instead of permanently displaying them. This allows live tiles more room and users to better customize the Start Screen. The taskbar is still apparent at the bottom of the screen, however it’s mostly there for the Start Button. By default open apps do not display down there, but you can turn that on if you wish.
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That wraps up just the big news from this weeks BUILD conference. Check out this link for all our Windows 10 content from this week!
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