Microsoft has been preparing its first big update for Windows 10 for a few months now and the software package was released today. People have been testing it for a while and knew it as Threshold 2. It brings a smarter Cortana and on this occasion the Xbox One dashboard was also updated.
You can go as far as to consider this the first “service pack” that Windows 10 got. As usual, it includes bug fixes and UI changes, that were meant for the initial release of Windows 10. For example we get a new colored title bar for desktop apps, with all the apps feeling more similar to the ones designed for Windows 10. Context menus in the OS have been made bigger and darker, in order to fit the general theme.
Skype is now integrated with Messaging and Skype Video apps and both offer video calls without requiring you to get the full Skype. Systems icons are improved and the Edge browser will sync favorites, settings and the reading list, plus it brings a new tab preview feature. Cortana is now able to work without a Microsoft Account and it can understand inked notes.
Cortana can also track movies and ticketed events automatically, via email and read handwritten notes via a Surface stylus. Now you can do media casting from the Microsoft Edge browser and the snapped window width is now more intuitively tweaked. I’ve also heard that the Start Menu got another row of tiles. Xbox One got the big update to Windows 10, with support for playing Xbox 360 games, a new dashboard with refreshed layout and DVR functionality for games.