Everything old is new again as widgets come to the Windows 10 action center

By Jon Martindale April 1, 2016

windows 10 anniversary update action center cards02 — WinBeta

Windows 10’s action center is clean and intuitive, but it isn’t the most dynamic or engaging. That’s something that Microsoft is looking to fix with its upcoming ‘Cards’ update. Detailed for the first time at the Microsoft Build conference this week, the software giant discussed its new aesthetic look, as well as updated features and functions.

The big update to the Action Center is widgets and tiles, which allow developers to add much more information than ever before. Images, animations and text from a number of new sources can all be leveraged within the panel, allowing for much more detailed data for users, as well as a more engaging look for the whole platform.

Images will also be used to identify where the information is coming from, giving you an idea at a glance, about who has sent you that notification.

Something that will put a smile on the face of many Windows 10 users though, is that the Action Center is set to receive cross platform support, letting you sync up your PC, smartphone and other Windows devices with the cloud. Dismissing a notification on your phone, will dismiss that same notification on your PC and vice versa.

If you don’t have a Windows handset, Winbeta reports that that won’t actually matter. Due to Cortana’s support on Android, you can still use the cross-platform Action Center.

The ‘Cards’ update as it is internally known, isn’t getting its own release, but will show up as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer, making the Action Center far more useful for everyone.

This will also mark the near-end of the free upgrade period for older Windows users who still haven’t yet claimed their Windows 10 license. If you haven’t yet, give it some thought. It’ll cost a lot more when August rolls around.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing Coordinator

Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…

Computing

Top 10 Windows shortcuts everyone should know

An individual using a laptop's keyboard.

Windows shortcuts are a constantly-used feature by practically all PC users. Apart from saving you time from carrying out the specific command without having to perform a few extra clicks on your mouse, it’s simply more convenient to refer back to shortcuts via your keyboard.

Although you may be satisfied with the Windows shortcuts you already know about and utilize on a daily basis, you can enhance your general Windows experience in a big way with these 10 shortcuts everyone should know.
Ctrl + Z
Tired of always having to use your mouse to find and click the Undo button on a program like Microsoft Word or, say, entering details on a website or editing images? Ctrl + Z will basically undo whatever your last action was, providing you a convenient way to reverse edits and changes within a second. From personal experience, this shortcut proved to be especially useful for productivity applications.
Ctrl + Shift + T
We’ve all been there. Nowadays, our browsers are inundated with multiple tabs, and as such, it’s hard to keep track of at times. Eventually, you’re going to close a tab on accident when trying to select it. Instead of trying to remember what it was or spending a few seconds accessing it and reopening it via the Recently Closed feature (on Chrome), simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last closed tab. Similarly, Ctrl + N will open a new tab.
Alt + Tab

Computing

After 10 years of headaches, I’m finally a believer in Windows on ARM

The Microsoft Surface 3 with its blue keyboard.

Almost two years in, Apple is on the verge of completing its transition to ARM. It might surprise you to know, then, that Microsoft started its own journey to ARM chips long before Apple.

But Windows' support for ARM has been far less smooth. There aren't many more Windows devices with ARM chips than there were five years ago -- and I can attest to having personally used every failed attempt along the way.

Computing

The latest Windows update is causing major printer problems

A Dell laptop with Windows 10 sitting on a desk.

Microsoft is now offering Windows 10 users a workaround for an issue that has come along with a mid-July update.

The KB5015807 update, which rolled out on July 12 and includes OS Builds 19042.1826, 19043.1826, and 19044.1826 all have a glitch that affects printers connected to computers running Windows 10. After the update is installed, you might see multiple printer listings available when you only have one product.