BLOGS BY TOPIC▼
BLOGS BY AUTHOR▼
BLOGS BY YEAR▼
Posted by Andy Brown on 23 February 2021
You need a minimum screen resolution of about 700 pixels width to see our blogs. This is because they contain diagrams and tables which would not be viewable easily on a mobile phone or small laptop. Please use a larger tablet, notebook or desktop computer, or change your screen resolution settings.
Windows updates for 2021
After a small update in the Spring of this year, Microsoft appear to be planning a much bigger update in the second half of the year. Here are some features which it should contain:
| Feature | Notes | My thoughts |
|---|---|---|
| More dynamic content | A new task on your task pane to show local news and weather. | I'd far rather go to Google or the BBC when I want weather news - but I suppose that's exactly what Microsoft are planning to stop! |
| Startup app notifications | Programs will now show notifications when they are configured to run on start-up. | Since Teams is by far the worst offender on this, it'll be interesting to see if there's a "Reverse this" button! |
| New emoji picker | An improved emoji picker will also let you choose clipart and GIFs, perhaps. | Windows will never be Snapchat, although it will always try to appeal to the younger user. |
| New voice typing | A new feature called Voice Typing replaces Windows Dictation, and will be available for any text box. | Given the huge improvements in voice recognition, this might finally trigger the moment when it's quicker to speak to (say) Word than it is to type into it. |
| Storage health monitoring | A new feature will monitor the health of your storage devices, and warn you of possible problems. | Apparently this is mainly designed to avoid the sudden catastrophic failure of the new(ish) SSD drives. |
| Cortana can find files | Cortana will be able to search for and find files on your hard disk. | Now this would be a good idea, although not if Microsoft's bias towards OneDrive is maintained. |
| 32 or 64 bit information | The Windows task manager should include a new column to give an application's architecture type. | This is only a tiny thing, but I quite like the idea of seeing whether each program runs in 32 or 64 bit mode. |
To see a full run-down of possible new features in this update (as ever, nothing is guaranteed until it happens) see this comprehensive article.