3. Taskbar
Like Windows 7, the Windows 10 Tech Preview desktop provides a Taskbar that supports pinning as well as Jump lists. However, unlike Windows 7, the Windows 10 Tech Preview Taskbar has some additional features as well. There’s a new Search icon, which is essentially redundant to, and not as handy as the Search box in the Start menu. There’s also a new Task View icon that you can use to quickly display the running applications as well as open multiple virtual desktops. I’ll cover more about virtual desktops in the next slide. You can also now put the Recycle Bin on the Taskbar as well.
4. Support for Virtual Desktops
Virtual desktops are one new feature that I really like in the Windows 10 Tech Preview. While Windows has internally supported multiple desktops in past releases, Microsoft itself hasn’t provided that capability to end users until the Windows 10 Tech Preview. Virtual Desktops can be handy ways of organizing like work on different desktops. Multiple desktops can be created using the new Task View icon on the Taskbar then clicking the Add a desktop link to create a new virtual desktop.
5. New command prompt
One of the more subtle and arguably long overdue improvements is the new Command Prompt. The Command Prompt has been basically unchanged since the Windows 95 days. The new Windows 10 Tech Preview adds some nice features, like support for the Ctrl-X (cut), Ctrl-C (copy), Ctrl-V (paste) keyboard shortcuts; holding down shift allows you to select multiple lines, and Ctrl-Shift selects by the word. The new features are not enabled by default. To enable them, right-click the Command Prompt’s title bar and select Properties. Open the Experimental tab and check the box next to Enable experimental console features. Finally, check the boxes next to Enable new Ctrl key shortcuts and Extended edit keys then click OK. These changes also apply to the PowerShell command prompt.
7. Keyboard shortcuts
The Windows 10 Tech Preview supports a number of traditional keyboard shortcuts as well as providing several new ones. Some traditional keyboard shortcuts include: ALT+TAB switch between active windows, ALT-F4: Close current window, WIN + [number]: Makes that Taskbar item active, F2: Rename a file or folder in Windows Explorer and of course the venerable CRTL-X, CRTL-C, CRTL-V (cut, copy, paste). Some new shortcuts include: WIN+LEFT or RIGHT or UP or DOWN to snap to quadrants, WIN+TAB: Open Task view control, WIN+CTRL+D: Create new virtual desktop, WIN+CTRL+F4: Close current virtual desktop; WIN+CTRL+LEFT or RIGHT: Switch to virtual desktop.
8. File Explorer Enhancements
Microsoft has also updated File Explorer in the Windows 10 Tech Preview. There’s a new Home view that adds to the older Windows 8 This PC view. The Home view shows Favorites, Frequent folders, and Recent files. You can still use the left pane to navigate and drill into the file tree. The Share tab has new options that lets you share one or more files or folders via email, over the network or via an app.