The most noticeable piece of this change for most users will be My People. This feature puts the friends and family you share and talk with the most in the places where you most often do so. They show up in Skype every time you hit the share button, and even in the task bar and notification center.
It is a similar approach to the way Windows 10 for mobile devices handles contacts and sharing. By unifying the movement and discussion about content to a single place, Microsoft is reinforcing the idea that Windows 10 is a personable operating system.
MyPeople gives you faster ways to connect and share with the people who matter most – right from the taskbar. #MicrosoftEvent pic.twitter.com/zx2c06M7j1
— Windows (@Windows) October 26, 2016
Of course, that increased access to sharing tools means a lot more messages heading your way, but Microsoft has a solution for that as wll. New filter tools will help you keep track of all your correspondence and present the right message at the right time, instead of bogging you down with notifications.
Whether people will pick up on these features remains to be seen. The full details were not revealed, and it was not immediately obvious whether all of these built-in chat and sharing features work over Skype, or over a more common social network. If you have to sign all of your friends up for a new service to take advantage of taskbar chat messages, it likely will not be embraced as widely as it would if it supported Facebook Messenger.
While the Creators Update does not roll out until next spring, Windows Insiders will likely spend time with these features well before the release date. Microsoft has been open-minded and attentive to user feedback, so expect to see changes between how it looks now and when it ends up on more systems.
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