Windows 10 Anniversary update: Massive Changelog, all new features vs TH2 (Build 10586.XXX)

In this post we are covering new features and changes coming with the Windows 10 Anniversary update in some detail. Read the Windows 10 Anniversary update massive changelog with features, changes, improvements that it brings over Windows 10 TH2 (Build 10586.XXX) below. You can read our Build by Build coverage of Anniversary update  (Redstone Builds) by clicking here.

Microsoft will start rolling out Windows 10 Anniversary update starting August 2. Download ISO of all Redstone builds by clicking here.

Windows 10 Anniversary Update Massive Changelog

System, Settings, Lock Screen UI & other changes

UI Changes:

• Microsoft has merged the most used apps list and the All apps list into a single view and elevated it to the top level of the UI to reduce clicking and scrolling. You can now access all your apps with one click on the Start menu.
• Power, Settings, and File Explorer are always visible in the left rail in the Start menu, and updated Recently added section shows 3 entries instead of just 1, and can be expanded to see the entire list of new apps.
• Any additional folders you have chosen to appear on Start (via Settings > Personalization > Start such as Documents or Pictures) will now be immediately available on Start and you will no longer need to open the hamburger button to access them.
• In tablet mode, Microsoft added features that would take advantage of the space on screen and make tablet mode feel more immersive. On tablets, it has brought back the full-screen All Apps list. The grid-like implementation of the full-screen All Apps list aims to provide efficiency while taking advantage of the additional real estate on the Start screen on a tablet.
• All pages in the Settings app now have individual icons associated with them. These individual icons will also be shown when you pin a settings page to Start.
• A dropdown flyout with page suggestions that will appear as you type into the Settings search box. These changes are designed to make it easier to find the settings you are looking for.
• The Pen settings page under Settings > Devices > Pen has been updated to include the ability to adjust your pen shortcuts (e.g. click one to open OneNote), a new option to ignore touch input when using the pen, and Windows Ink Workspace settings. The touch keyboard and handwriting panel settings have been split up and you can choose to ignore touch input when using the pen.
• A new option under Settings > Personalization > Colors to show color only on app title bars in addition to the option to show color on Start, the taskbar, and Action Center.
• Updated Blu-ray icon so that it is more consistent with the other drive icons in Windows 10.
• Changed icon for the network Quick Action to better represent it as an entry point to the network flyout (previously, it was a generic globe icon).
• Updated File Explorer icon with more color and new design

Lock screen Improvements

• Email addresses are hidden on the Lock screen: On the basis of feedback that people did not want their email addresses displayed on the Lock screen. Email addresses are now hidden by default. If you would like your email address to show in the Lock screen, you can change this setting by going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Privacy.
• Media controls show on top of the Lock screen: Media controls will now appear embedded at the bottom right corner of the Lock screen, along with a picture of the album art from the song currently playing.

Dark Mode:

• Personalization Improvements: Microsoft has added the ability to universally toggle between dark and light modes via Settings > Personalization > Colors.
• When you switch to dark mode, apps such as Settings, Store, Alarms & Clock, Calculator and other UWP apps that listen and respond to theme changes in the OS will change into dark mode. Some UWP apps that control their own theme settings (separate from Windows) won’t change by toggling this setting.

Virtual Desktop Improvements:

• You can now pin a window so it’s available on every desktop. To do this, launch Task View then right-click on the window you want to pin and choose “Show this window on all desktops”.
• Polished the appearance of Start by reducing the amount of whitespace at the top of Start, and adding logic so that the scrollbars will immediately hide once your mouse is no longer hovering over that area

Settings improvements:

• The navigation pane is now white in light mode or black in dark mode and we have added a small block of color (which is same as the accent color of your profile) to highlight what Settings page you are on.
• Clicking anywhere on the Home button at the top left takes you to the Settings homepage. And Microsoft has made some other polish improvements, including slightly increasing the size of the page name text.

Updated Credential & UAC Dialog UI:

• When you are prompted to enter your credentials or elevate a program, you will notice the dialog now has a fresh and modern UI to align with the design language in use across Windows 10. And now when prompted to enter credentials, you can choose to sign-in with Windows Hello, a PIN, certificates or a simple password.
• The UAC dialog supports dark mode

New Update Progress Experience:

• When you PC installs today’s new build update – you will see a new progress experience for installing the update. This is part of an effort to align the experience of installing updates from Windows Update.

Action Center & Notifications Improvements

• The Action Center icon has moved to the far corner of the taskbar so it is more distinct from other icons – making it easier to interact with it. There is a badge that now displays the number of notifications you have missed making it easier for you to know what app your notifications are from by adding a subtle animation to the icon (showing the sender app’s logo) whenever you receive notifications that do not show a toast.
• Individual app notifications in Action Center no longer show the app icon repeated for each notification and will only be seen in the header that groups together all the notifications specific for that app. This change allows for more space in Action Center to show more content.
• Cortana notifications in Action Center: Microsoft has added new insights from Cortana to ensure you are not missing anything important, such as a meeting conflict or anything she needs to remind you about.
• You can add, remove and re-arrange the Quick Actions that show up in Action Center. To customize your Quick Actions, just go to the Settings > System > Notifications & actions. In this settings page, you will see a replica of your Quick Actions as it appears in Action Center, and with a simple press and hold you can move the Quick Actions to the place where you want them to be. Then to add or remove a Quick Action, there is a link below the grid that will allow you to turn on or off the available Quick Actions.
• Action Center now supports the popular dismiss model of middle-clicking on a notification via the middle button scroll wheel on your mouse to a single notification. Middle-clicking on an app’s name will dismiss all the notifications listed for that app.
• Small animation to Action Center for when notifications are deleted by the platform or dynamically repositioned, and generally improved Action Center reliability.
• Quick Actions in Action Center that turn on and off different functionality in your device, like Bluetooth on your phone or Tablet Mode on your PC, now have a transient On/Off text indicator so you can clearly see the state change for these.
• Ability to select which app notifications are more important to you in Action Center. On your device, you can manage the notification settings for individual apps by going to Settings > System > Notifications & actions. Just click or tap on a specific app to adjust its notification settings. You can prioritize its notifications in Action Center to be one of 3 levels: Normal, High, or Priority.
• You can also adjust how many notifications are visible per app. The default is now 3 per app. If an app has more than 3 notifications, just click or tap to expand and see all notifications for that app. This was a top request from Insiders.

Cortana Changes, new features

• Cortana has many UI changes to show with settings now moving out of Notebook. It also brings ability to change the language it uses on PC
• Cortana is now available above your lock screen so you can do things like ask questions, play music from your PC or set a reminder without unlocking your device.
• For sensitive tasks or those that launch applications, Cortana will prompt you to unlock your device. To enable Cortana on your Lock screen – go to Cortana’s settings and under “Lock screen options” turn on “Let me use Cortana even when my device is locked” and also make sure you have “Hey Cortana” enabled as well.
• It is easier and quicker to set a reminder in Cortana with 2 new exciting ways to create reminders. You can now create a Photo Reminder by taking a picture of something you want to be reminded about. You can also now set reminders on content from UWP apps that utilize the share contract in Windows, like Microsoft Edge and the News app
•  You will be able to get started using Cortana right away without any set up or sign-in. As you find Cortana more useful and want her to do more for you, she’ll ask you to sign-in and ask for only the details needed to help you out. The best experience for Cortana will still be a signed in experience with complete personalization.
• Cortana can save and recall key information, like your frequent flier number or where you parked at the airport.
• Cortana can give you notifications across all the devices you have with Cortana – like sharing directions across devices or from text or messaging services on your phone.
• Cortana will now inform you of low battery power on your mobile devices such as your Windows phone. Additionally, you can ask Cortana to find and ring your phone, and you will be able to share maps across all your devices.
• Notifications from your phone to your PC will appear under its own Windows Phone group in Action Center – with a fancy new logo to boot!
• On your PC, Cortana can now search your content in Office 365 including your emails, contacts, calendar as well as files in OneDrive for Business and SharePoint. To get started, just add your Office 365 work or school account in the Connected Accounts section of Cortana’s Notebook.
• In addition to playing songs via your local files and OneDrive, you also now have the ability to play any song from the entire Groove Music Catalog using Cortana. If you have a Groove Music Pass, just ask Cortana to play your favorite artist, genre, playlist or song. This also works with Cortana on your Lock screen.
• You can now set a timer using Cortana to remind you to go get a snack, take a break, or while cooking. You can set a timer, query how long is left and cancel using natural language. On your PC, this works logged in or above the Lock screen.

Microsoft Edge Changes, New Features

• Real-time web notifications in Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge now supports real-time web notifications, which allow participating websites to send notifications to you via Action Center, with your permission.
• Swipe navigation in Microsoft Edge: You can now swipe from anywhere on the page to get back to your previous page
• Building on strong power efficiency already available in Microsoft Edge, the Anniversary Update includes even more power-saving improvements, using fewer CPU cycles, consuming less memory, and minimizing the impact of background activity and peripheral content. Microsoft Edge lasts three hours longer than Google Chrome.
• Microsoft Edge now supports Extensions and many extensions such as Pinterest’s “Pin It Button,” Amazon Assistant, AdBlock, AdBlock Plus and LastPass, will be available in the Windows Store with the Anniversary Update to add features to your browser and personalize your experience.
• With the Anniversary Update, page structure and content are now exposed more clearly with assistive technology. Visual presentation of web pages in high contrast mode is greatly improved to provide additional visual context, while preserving text contrast.
• Also, form entry when using keyboard navigation and screen readers improve in this update making the browsing experience for people of all abilities better.
• Improved file download experience in Microsoft Edge. Now if you click on a download link from outside of Microsoft Edge that quickly opens and closes a tab, it will open the Download Hub so it is more apparent that a download has begun and succeeded.
• Updated download notification in Microsoft Edge to include filename, download status, and site domain on separate lines.
• Pinned Tabs in Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge now lets you pin tabs, making it super easy to keep your most-used sites and web apps always available. To pin a tab, right-click on the tab you want to pin and choose “Pin tab”. To unpin a tab, right-click on the pinned tab you want to unpin and choose “Unpin tab”. Pinned tabs always appear at the start of the tab row, and only showing the site’s favicon.
• You can now copy any link into your clipboard, and right-click on the address bar in Microsoft Edge and choose “Paste and go” from the context menu. Microsoft Edge pastes the URL into the address bar, and navigates to the site. You can also copy words to your clipboard, and choose “Paste and search”.
• Favorites bar improvements in Microsoft Edge: If you have the favorites bar enabled in Microsoft Edge, you can now right-click on the favorites bar and choose to have it only show the favicons only. You can also right-click to add new folders in your favorites bar as well.
• You can now choose to have your browsing data cleared when you exit Microsoft Edge. Just click on the three dots at the top right in Microsoft Edge and go into Settings, click on the “Choose what to clear” button under “Clear browser data” and enable “Always clear this after I close the browser” after choosing what data you want cleared.
• You can now configure Microsoft Edge to show a prompt when you start a download, allowing you to choose where to save the file. Just open the Microsoft Edge settings pane (the three dots at the top right) and look for the option under “Downloads settings”.

Gaming Improvements

• With the Xbox Play Anywhere program, you can buy a game once and play on your Windows 10 PC and Xbox One with shared progress, shared game saves and shared achievements. Every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store.
• Xbox Play Anywhere games will be offered within the new unified Windows Store on both Windows 10 and Xbox One. You’ll be able to find the content you want faster and purchase game and app bundles, pre-orders, pre-downloads and subscriptions such as Xbox Live Gold.
• On Xbox One, gamers will be able to use Cortana commands to find great new games, see what your friends are up to, start a party, accomplish common tasks and turn on your Xbox One by saying “Hey Cortana, Xbox On”.
• Top fan requested features for Xbox One, such as Language Region Independence (allowing gamers to choose any supported language, regardless of their location) and support for background music, will come with the Anniversary Update.
• Windows Game bar improved with full-screen support:  Support for additional games in full-screen mode with Windows game bar. With those games, you can now use Windows key + G to bring up the Windows Game bar when the game is running full-screen. You can control this feature through the Windows Game bar settings. In the settings dialog, look for the “Show Game bar when I play full-screen games” checkbox.

 Phone to PC projection improvements

• Microsoft has sorted out projection issues and there is separate settings available for “Projecting to this PC”. Access it by going to Settings–>System. Enabling the options allows use of features like “Project My Screen” and Continuum for Phones over Wi-Fi.
• Projecting to a PC auto-discoverability is off by default. To have your PC beacon so it can be discovered and you can project to it through the Connect quick action from a Continuum enabled phone or another PC, go to Settings > System > Projecting to this PC and set “Windows PCs and phones can project to this PC when you say it’s OK” to “Available everywhere” or “Available everywhere on secure networks”.
• Using the new Connect app, you can bring the Continuum experience from your phone (a Continuum-enabled Windows 10 phone is required) to the PC without needing a dock or Miracast adapter. Additionally, it also allows other Miracast-enabled PCs to project to other PCs without needing a dock or Miracast adapter as well.

Activation Improvements

• Microsoft has introduced the Activation Troubleshooter that will help you address most commonly encountered activation issues on Genuine Windows devices including those caused by hardware changes.
• For example – if your device has a digital license (formerly called “digital entitlement”) for Windows 10 Pro from a previously installed activated Windows 10 build but you accidentally re-installed Windows 10 Home on such a device, the troubleshooter will automatically guide you through upgrading to Windows 10 Pro and activate Windows.
• You can launch the troubleshooter by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation and select Troubleshoot. Remember, Windows 10 Insider Preview builds are intended to be installed on Genuine Windows devices.
• Ability to link your Microsoft account (MSA) to the activation digital license with this Insider Preview build. If you already used an MSA to log in to your activated Windows 10 Home or Pro device, your MSA will be automatically linked. You can use this MSA linked digital license to re-activate your Genuine Windows 10 device by running the Activation troubleshooter, if you run into Activation issues caused by hardware changes.
• Windows Insider Program settings page: Windows Insider Program settings moved to its own settings page. This is where you can go to join the Windows Insider Program (or stop receiving Insider Preview builds) and adjust which ring you are in.

Update Experience & Active Hours

• You can now also set the time in which you are most active on your phone just like on your PC by adjusting active hours under Settings > Update & security > Windows Update. Windows Update will avoid automatically installing updates during your active hours on your device.
• The window of active hours for when you are using your PC has been increased from 10 to 12 hours under Settings > Update & security > Windows Update and “Change active hours”.

Battery Saver & Battery Life improvements

• “Battery Saver” settings page has been renamed as “Battery” and is a single entry point for all battery related settings including Battery Saver
• Updated Battery Use page now allows to manage the per-app background settings inline without going to a second page
• It also added a new background settings option called “Managed by Windows”. With this option, not only will the app stop running in the background when Battery Saver is enabled, but it will temporarily turn off apps with high battery drain that you haven’t used in a while or pinned to your Start screen till you next launch the application
• Prompt asking the user if they’d like to turn on Battery Saver when battery is at 20%
• Improved Battery Life for Connected Standby PC’s: Microsoft integrated the same underlying technology that Battery Saver uses to quiet down some of the less-valuable activity that occurs during Connected Standby while still keeping your PC connected to the Internet and allowing key connectivity scenarios to work. As a result, if you’re using a Surface or other Connected Standby PC, many of you will notice improved and more consistent standby battery life.

Windows Ink Improvements

• Quickly and easily take a note, sketch on a screenshot, or draw an idea.
• Smart Sticky Notes help you remember common tasks like reminding you of flight times or offering directions using Maps.
• Key apps have new ink-specific features, like using handwriting in Office, ink annotations in Microsoft Edge or drawing custom routes in Maps.
• With the latest update, Sticky Notes come with the ability to create Cortana reminders from your notes that will flow with you across your Cortana enabled devices. You can also ink or type a phone number and it readies itself for calling; write an email address and launch directly to email, write a URL and launch into Microsoft Edge right from the Note.
• Compass on the ruler: Windows Ink ruler includes a compass. If the ruler is oriented in the direction of any of the cardinal points or midpoints, the compass indicator will become bold.
• Sketchpad and Screen Sketch will now default to touch inking ON for non-pen devices. They will also remember the state of the button when you relaunch Windows Ink Workspace.

Docker with Hyper-V Containers

• Introducing Hyper-V Container: You can now use Docker natively on Windows 10 with Hyper-V Containers, to build, ship and run containers utilizing the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5  Nano Server container OS image.
• A new version of the Docker engine for Windows has also been made available that extends the support of containers while also improving the DockerFile syntax and getting started experience for users.

Feedback Hub

• Introducing Feedback Hub: The Feedback Hub carries over all of the best things from the previous two apps plus a few new things. When you open Feedback Hub for the first time, you will see a search box at the top so you can quickly find and upvote feedback items from other Insiders or submit new feedback. You will also notice that Announcements and Quests show up together in a single feed under “What’s new”. When you submit new feedback to us, we have added a new description field so you can explain in more detail the feedback you are sending to us.
• Feedback Hub shows short status tags on feedback to let you know what we’re doing with it. The tags are a short-form way to give status on feedback we’re actively working on or have made changes for. The tags will often be published along with a “Microsoft response” comment that gives more context on what the team is doing. This change also replaces the “Received” tag that you’ve been seeing on all feedback with something much more useful and informative!
• When you create new feedback, the Feedback Hub will suggest categories and subcategories based on the title and description you entered. If you see a suggestion that looks right, just click it to fill in the menus and get your feedback to the right engineers quickly.

Command Prompt Improvements

• For Command Prompt, several improvements are there including improved windows scaling on PCs with High-DPI displays, better font selection and rendering for international characters. It also brings several cursor rendering and hiding improvements, improved background color painting, as well as improved scrolling for nano & EMACS editors.

 File Explorer improvements

• Deeper file search, including OneDrive results: You can now quickly search your files whether they are on your PC or your personal OneDrive in the cloud. You can search for documents, photos, music as well as videos stored on OneDrive.
• Just search for something you need to find and click one of the search filters (e.g. documents, photos, music, or videos) and it will show you content from your OneDrive.

Taskbar changes

• Taskbar settings now in Settings app: Taskbar settings have been moved into the Settings app. Just go to Settings > System > Taskbar or right-click on the taskbar to go directly to this page in the Settings app. As an added bonus, these settings are now discoverable by searching with Cortana.
• Taskbar clock now integrates your calendar: Your calendar events are now just one click away – you can easily check your daily schedule directly in the taskbar clock flyout, after connecting your accounts in the Calendar app. If you click on an event in the flyout, it will redirect you to that event’s details in the Calendar app. You can also add a new event by clicking the “+” button.
• Auto-hide taskbar in tablet mode: You can now choose to only auto-hide the taskbar in tablet mode. By hiding the taskbar, apps can take full advantage of the screen for an immersive and distraction-free experience. The setting can be found in Settings, under System > Tablet Mode. When the taskbar is hidden, swiping up from the bottom edge of the screen will make it appear. Doing so again will make it disappear.
• Taskbar clock on all monitors: If you have multiple monitors and your taskbar set to show on all displays, the clock will now be visible on each Taskbar.
• Taskbar Badging for UWP apps: You will now see badges appearing on UWP apps on the taskbar in addition to their Live Tiles and in Action Center. These badges are lightweight notifications that are contextual and specific to individual apps.
• Manage multiple playback devices from the Taskbar: The volume flyout has been updated to allow you to switch between multiple audio output devices. Just click the arrow next to current audio output in use to expand and see other output devices available.

Usability improvements

• Improved app management: Added ability to reset an app if it gets into a bad state under Settings > Apps and features. This is useful if an app gets into a bad state and you want to delete its data and start over.  Just choose “Advanced options” for a specific app under Settings > Apps and features and you will see the reset button.
• You will also be able manage app add-ons and downloadable content here too if the app supports this capability as discussed at Build 2016.
• Switching desktops with the touchpad. Virtual desktop users can now switch quickly between desktops using their touchpads. To do this, swipe four fingers left or right on your touchpad. Try switching desktops with a quick-flick.
• If you want to refer to two adjacent desktops you can keep your fingers down and drag back and forth. You will need a precision touchpad that supports four or more fingers, such as the precision touchpads found on Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 Type Cover.

Keyboard Improvements

• Updated Emoji: Entire set of new and updated font-based emoji in Windows 10 that aligns with the Microsoft Design Language with a distinct visual style as well as the Unicode standard.
• These new emoji are designed to be detailed, expressive, and playful. Their larger size takes full advantage of every pixel and the two-pixel outline allows for emoji to appear on any color background without loss of fidelity.
• New emoji also supports skin tone modification across a wide variety of people glyphs.

Major Apps Revamps

Skype UWP Preview:

Microsoft removed Messaging-Skype integration in favour of the new Skype UWP Preview app.

• All new revamped design and UI
• Create and send group messages, as well as make group audio calls
• Ability to make group video calls. You can have up to 25 friends and family come together on a free group video call, talk face-to-face with a 1:1 call, message your friends in an instant to share photos, emoticons and Mojis to liven up your conversation.
• You can also quickly reply to Skype messages—no need to open Skype.
• Bot directory
• File sharing
• PSTN Out/Skype Out
• Connectivity and Status awareness, Troubleshooter, and Offline Mode
• Proxy settings
• Outgoing message status

Updated Maps app:

Anniversary update includes a updated Maps app for Windows 10 that brings a more lightweight, scalable, and consistent UI as well as underlying architecture improvements and new features for you to try!

• One-tap access to search and directions from anywhere, even on your phone. This is great especially for one-handed use.
• You can view multiple searches and directions at the same time, on the same map as they are layered on top of each other and you can use tabs or the map to switch between them.
• You can now minimize search results, directions, and location info to enjoy more of the map, while keeping them in easy reach.
• You can see labels for your search results directly on the map. No more numbers to match between the map and the list.
• Cortana will give you turn-by-turn directions (if Cortana is enabled).
• We have improved the logic for nearby searches so you should see better (closer) results.
• We have added the ability to search for your favorite city in the 3D cities list so no more scrolling forever to get to the city you want.
• You can now access your favorites offline and add notes to them.
• We have updated the turn-by-turn design to improve glanceability and landscape layout.
• For more information on the updated Maps app for Windows 10 – check out this blog post from the Maps Team.

Updated Alarms & Clock app:

• Update to the Alarm & Clock app that introduces a new inline time picker and improved design for creating and editing alarms and timers.

Networks & WiFi changes

• Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0 networks support has arrived with Anniversary update on PC too.
• Network Status UI changes & Enhancements: Now you can access more info about Wi-Fi or Network connection by going to Network & Internet and checking status. Not only the status is shown in an emphatic manner on top you can see more info and even troubleshoot. You can also run Network speed test.
• Wi-Fi Quick Action changes: The Wi-Fi Quick Action directly takes you to the “View Available Network” flyout instead of turning ON/OFF your Wi-Fi.

New keyboard shortcuts

• New keyboard shortcut for Feedback Hub on PC. To capture a screenshot and launch Feedback Hub use they keyboard shortcut Windows key + F. This opens Feedback Hub and attaches a screenshot of your PC (you can review and remove this before you submit). The old PC keyboard shortcut of Windows key + SHIFT + ? will stop working because of this change.
• A new shortcut to turn on/off Private mode when using the Japanese Input Method Editor. This new keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + P. We also increased the width of the Japanese 12 key keyboard for small devices when in portrait, so as to improve ease of use and fixed an issue where no characters would be input when using this keyboard in a field where Input Method Editors are disabled

New Security Features

• Over 90% of people have abandoned web sites instead of locating a forgotten password because security hasn’t been easy enough to use. New Windows Hello features make it easy for you to use the same easy, yet strong, security of Windows Hello with Windows apps and Microsoft Edge, the first and only browser to natively support biometrics with supporting sites. The Anniversary Update also enables companion devices to use Windows Hello to unlock your PC, giving you more choices for quick, secured sign-ins.
• Improvements to Windows Defender, our free anti-malware service, includes the option to automatically schedule periodic quick scans of your PC; as well as provide new notifications and summaries when scans are complete and threats are found.
• Limited Period Scanning: Limited Periodic Scanning is a new security setting you can choose to turn on if you use an antivirus program other than Windows Defender. This setting can provide an additional line of defense in scanning and detecting malware on your device. To enable this – go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Defender and turn “Limited Periodic Scanning” on. Each month Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool detects malware on 1 to 2 million devices, even those running other antivirus software. This setting can be turned on for unmanaged devices.

Bash on Ubuntu on Windows

• Run native Bash on Ubuntu on Windows: With Anniversary update you can natively run Bash in Windows as announced at Build 2016.
• To do this, you first need to turn on Developer Mode via Settings > Update & security > For developers. Then search for “Windows Features” and choose “Turn Windows features on or off” and enable Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta). To get Bash installed, open Command Prompt and type “bash”.

Japanese IME Improvements

• Japanese one-handed kana touch keyboard: You can now choose one-handed kana touch keyboard for Japanese text typing. Type text in the same familiar way you would on your mobile device. One-handed keyboard is smaller than full-size touch keyboard, so it doesn’t hide your desktop too much. It can also be placed anywhere on the desktop. If you want to type with left hand, bring one-handed touch keyboard to the left side.
• Japanese Lined-mode Text Input Canvas: Now, you can have a new experience with the Japanese lined-mode Text Input Canvas. It provides you natural and intuitive text input for people who enter Japanese text. Edit the written characters, such as striking out inked text and modifying characters, can be easily done with a pen.
• Prediction capability enhancements on Japanese IME: You can expand prediction candidate window by hitting Tab key at the bottom of the candidate window to find various formats of date expressions. Conversion result is also shown in prediction candidate window when your text is relatively long.
• Improved typing history management in Japanese IME: You can now choose to store your typing history to a temporary repository and have it cleared automatically to avoid an inadvertent exposure to other people through the IME candidate window, without losing the important typing history you had accumulated over time. Just enable the mode from the context menu available on IME mode indicator. When you have finished typing, disable the mode from the same menu to have the temporary repository cleared. This functionality is automatically enabled during InPrivate browsing with Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.
• Improved Cloud suggestions in Japanese IME: The IME UI has been improved to indicate the availability of Cloud suggestions! You will be notified in the candidate window when Cloud suggestions are available to use and can enjoy the rich vocabularies empowered by Bing. The flyout navigates users to the Settings, allowing them to switch to use Cloud suggestions more seamlessly as you type text.

Incomplete features

• Apps for websites: As we discussed at Build 2016, you will soon be able to redirect certain websites to open with an app instead. While there are currently no apps that support this, in preparation for their availability we have added a new page at Settings > System > Apps for websites where you will be able to manage them. Please stay tuned!