The next major Windows 10 update is going to appropriate 7Gb (or more) of your hard disk space – and it is about time. Too many Windows Updates fail because people have filled their drives.
Microsoft says that the proliferation of smaller 32/64/128GB devices means that there is inadequate space to install Windows updates so it will reserve around 7GB in a new Storage Reserve Partition.
Without Storage Reserve, if a user almost fills up their storage, several Windows and application scenarios become unreliable. Windows and applications need temporary space – without it, they may not work as expected.
With Storage Reserve, updates, apps, temporary files, and caches won’t take space away from C: Drive. It will automatically install on devices updating to Windows version 1903.
Windows 1903
These days it is Windows as a Service (WaaS). Every other week it patches and updates roll out to ensure maximum performance and security.
Version 1903 is not due to April but here are a few things it has.
| Acrylic effect: While more cosmetic it adds an acrylic, translucent effect (part of a new fluid design) to enable users to see what is on sub-screens. It also has more ‘hover over’ pop-ups to explain what something does and auto-expand to see options. A new Light Theme brings lighter colours to menus and taskbars. |
| Cortana and Search part company: Cortana is Windows voice assistant, and from what we can gather she was not very much in demand as a Search interface. She is still there, but you have to |
| Action icons: When you are not on the internet it will alert you. |
| Quick action centre: Includes a screen brightness slider and it is easier to pin and unpin actions |
| Game Bar: a new gallery of screenshots and the ability to share content directly to Twitter. |
| Remove more baked-in apps: You can remove almost all ‘baked-in’ apps like 3D Viewer, Paint 3D etc., |
| Security Key: It will natively support physical keys like Yubico Yubikey (no drivers or apps needed) |
| Troubleshooting: Simplified to fix most common issues instead of having to select networking, internet etc. |
| Microsoft Edge: Will start to use the Chrome engine |
| Font management: get a major overhaul |
| More emoji: It will have Kaomoji and Symbols as well as Emoji 12. |
| Windows Sandbox: Run untrusted programs and apps without harming your device. It creates a virtual machine on the fly (Window 10 Pro and Enterprise). Windows Security also has tamper protection to stop others from changing its settings. |
| Phone/PC integration: Windows and Android/iOS will become more seamless with the Your Phone App. |
| Narrator: much more useful. |
GadgetGuy’s take
There are dozens of new features but from what I can see no new functionality – it’s more about making it even easier to use. And the 7GB Storage Reserve is a long time overdue. If you have a larger drive you can disable it.
