After the Cortana button update, Microsoft has made a significant change in the Windows 10 Taskbar and added a dedicated space for News & Interests feature which is a feed-like feature. This feature is an extra add-on and not a part of the 21H1 update which is also expected soon. The News & Interests feature was first announced in January 2021 and will be rolled out to all Windows 10 users soon. This feature is considered very useful by experts and does ease things up for the user.
Microsoft has been rolling out this feature for a couple of months but only to a few users at a time. Now it has announced that it will initiate a worldwide rollout of the May 2021 update which will include this feature. As per a report on Windows Latest, the update is known as KB5003173 and will appear on the Windows Update section. Here are the steps to update your Windows:
Step 1: Press Windows + I and select Update & Security.
Step 2: Click on the Check for Updates button.
Step 3: Restart your computer after the update process is completed.
Note: If this feature has been rolled out to your region, then you will be able to see it after the update has been done.
Microsoft’s “News and Interests” Taskbar.
We at We The Geek were able to install the update and use the feature with no issues or errors. You also get the option to share the story/news, like/dislike, hide a particular story, or the content provider and report it as well. These options are similar to what Google has been providing us through Google Discover.
However, there have been certain reports from across the globe where certain cases have been reported of bugs with icons that appear after the update. Some users also claim that this feature works only when the taskbar is located at the bottom.
We also tried moving the taskbar sideways and upwards and found that the News & Interests Taskbar feature disappears. It does, however, reappear when the Windows Taskbar is repositioned at the bottom.
Something uncommon that has been observed is that although Microsoft did announce that it was planning to develop this feature sometime back, it did not announce its official release. This feature started appearing in some Windows 10 PCs a month ago and recently has started to appear in most of them after installing the Patch Tuesday update.
Note: Patch Tuesday is the second or fourth Tuesday of every month when most of the major applications including Microsoft release updates relating to their applications.
The News & Interests Taskbar is indeed a remarkable feature that allows the users to peek at the latest news headlines of their particular interest without having to open a new app or a different webpage in the browser. However, it will take time to gather information and analyze what type of news and articles suit your interests. This can be done if you provide regular feedback, Positive or Negative on every news displayed currently.
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