What you need to know
- Microsoft is announcing the general availability of a new Taskbar feature.
- The feature will begin rolling out in the next few weeks.
- Users on version 1909 and up will get the new feature.
Microsoft has today announced that a new Taskbar feature will begin rolling out to Windows 10 users on version 1909, 2004, 20H2, and 21H1 in the next several weeks, making this the first significant feature to be added to a version of Windows that has already shipped.
In the past, new Windows features usually show up as part of a new version of Windows 10, but Microsoft is adding this new feature to versions of Windows that shipped over a year ago. The new feature is called "News and Interests" and places a widget on the Taskbar that gives you at-a-glance weather info, and the latest news from MSN.com.
The goal of this feature is to allow users quick access to the information they'd normally have to manually find. Whether that be the current weather, latest news, or up-to-date sporting leaderboards. The 'News and Interests' feature gives you one-click access to all of that information, right from the Taskbar and powered by Microsoft's MSN website.
Microsoft has been testing these features with Insiders in the Dev Channel for a handful of months, which lead many to believe it was a feature that would roll out as part of the 21H2 update this fall. But instead, Microsoft is backporting the feature to 21H1, which will release next month, 20H2 and 2004, both released throughout 2020, and 1909, released in fall 2019.
The company says News and Interests will begin showing up on customer PCs running version 2004 and above over the next several weeks. Users won't have to do anything to enable it, as it will just show up on its own when Microsoft is ready to give it to you.
Are you excited to see Microsoft adding new features to already shipped versions of Windows? Will you use the new News and Interests feature? Let us know in the comments.
