Microsoft just pushed the big red button on perhaps the most important insider build in recent memory, with build 17063, now available for Windows Insiders on Fast Ring PCs. While there’s LOTS of new stuff in this build (Dona Sarkar’s promise of a 25 page blog post was no exaggeration!), by far the most compelling introduction in this build is Timeline. Here’s a quick description of Timeline from the blog post:
Timeline introduces a new way to resume past activities you started on this PC, other Windows PCs, and iOS/Android devices. Timeline enhances Task View, allowing you to switch between currently running apps and past activities.
Timeline works with a new construct Microsoft is calling Activities, and by enhancing the Task View to accept not only views of your desktop but these Activities as well, you’ll now be able to re-open elements of your previous work just by clicking on the Activity, getting back to a previous point in your workflow.
You’ll be able to scroll through your Timeline Activities, search for a previous one, or use Cortana, who is now Timeline-aware, to find an Activity, and just click on it to open.
Getting started with Timeline is easy, just start using Windows 10 Insider build 17063, and after a while click on the new Timeline icon. Here’s what the blog post has to say:
Use your PC normally. After a while, select the new Task view icon in the task bar. (You can also open Task view by pressing Windows logo key + Tab.) Below your running apps, you’ll see past activities in Timeline.
Figure 6. The Task view icon has been updated to reflect new timeline capabilities.
If you have more than one PC, try using Timeline on all of them—you’ll see the same activities no matter which PC you’re using. And if an activity from one PC used a modern app that you don’t have installed on another PC, Windows will help you install that app.
We’re excited to use Timeline, and to dig into all that it has to offer. Have you found anything not mentioned in the blog post, or are you having problems with this new feature? Let us know in the comments below.
