On May 27 of this year, Microsoft released the latest version of Windows 10. It is called Windows 10 version 2004 or the May 2020 Update (V2004). This is currently the newest available version of the OS and the one featuring a number of upgrades and improvements.
So, what has changed in Windows 10 version 2004 ? There are quite a few interesting things that are worth mentioning.
What is new in Windows 10 version 2004?
Windows is offering Windows 10 2004 version automatically via Windows Update, and the newest version comes with a number of new features and improvements, including:
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2), the new Cortana application, Notepad improvements, Windows Search improvements, Windows Sandbox, and lots more.
Below, we will go over some of the best new things in the Windows 10 2004 rollout.
What’s new with Notepad?
The Windows Notepad may be quite an antique piece of software — but it is convenient and a lot of users find it an essential and useful component of the operating system. This time around, the Windows Notepad has undergone a number of improvements. Namely:
- From now on, if you select a piece of text in Notepad, and then go to Find, the text you’ve selected will appear in the search box automatically.
- If you enable Word Wrap, the line numbers will be visible.
- If you have unsaved changes in the text, the title bar indicator will let you know about it.
- Notepad text can now be zoomed in.
- There is a new default encoding option: UTF-8 without a Byte Order Mark, which enables better compatibility with ASCII web coding.
- You can now use new shortcuts: for opening a new Notepad window (Ctrl + Shift + N), for saving text “Save as…” (Ctrl + Shift + s) and for closing the current window (Ctrl + W).
What’s new with Windows Search?
Windows Search has also been awarded some new features in the latest update:
- Now, when you are typing in the search box, you will get search result suggestions, and OneDrive will also be included in standard searches.
- If you have the power saving mode enabled, if your battery is under 50%, or if the CPU loading or disk usage is too high, Windows search will stop indexing files.
What’s new with Windows Sandbox and virtual desktop?
Windows Sandbox was first introduced to Windows 10 in May 2019. Since then, the software has received improvements with every Windows update, and Windows 10 version 2004 is not an exception:
- Now, you can make changes in Settings: for instance, users can enable or disable vGPU, allow network access, etc.
- Plus, in the Windows 10 2004 Sandbox, you can use the microphone.
- Virtual desktops have also received an upgrade: they can now be renamed.
What’s new with the Task Manager?
The Task Manager is an essential tool in the Windows OS where you can get lots of information about your PC’s hardware. In the latest Windows update, the Task Manager has been given a few extra features as well. For instance, now you can view the temperature of a particular GPU, and you will also be able to see what kind of disk storage there is in the system (HDD or SSD).
New accessibility features in Windows 10 version 2004
In Windows 10 version 2004, Microsoft has made a lot of improvements for users with special accessibility needs:
- For those who use Eye Control, it is now possible to drag and drop objects. During the pause when using the Eye Control tool, the launchpad will be hidden completely to give the user enough space to work. In order to click, a user can now use a switch instead of looking at the needed option for an extended period of time. Microsoft has also improved the settings for Eye Control, giving users more control of how to respond to eye movements.
- Narrator is more efficient too. Users can use the Narrator key + S key combo to get a page summary. Using the combo twice will make Narrator to highlight popular links on a page and navigate directly to a page’s summary links. You can now also use the Caps Lock + Ctrl + D shortcut to dispatch the link to an online service, which will read out the page title for you.
- As for emails, Narrator now cooperates better with Outlook and the Windows 10 Mail app. When you open a message, Narrator turns on Scan Mode and is able to recognize patterns in newsletters and discard any unnecessary information.
- The new UI supports the Windows theme and text scaling settings. Magnifier will now place the cursor in the center of the screen and can work in three new reading modes.
- The new text cursor indicator will help users find the text cursor more easily. Plus, users can now customize this indicator via Settings and preview the way it will look before committing to it.
What’s new in language settings in Windows 10 version 2004?
In the new version of the OS, language settings have become clearer and easier to use.
- On the main page, there are now links to all major languages and region settings. Furthermore, if you use multiple languages and have installed different language features, the system can now tell you what each feature can do so you can decide whether you need this feature or not.
- Microsoft has also added more languages to Dictation support. In previous Windows 10 versions, you were able to use your voice to dictate only in English (United States). Now, in Windows 10 version 2004, you can use your voice to type in English (Canada), English (UK), English (Australia), English (India), French (France), French (Canada), German, Italian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese and Simplified Chinese. The dictation mode can be switched on by using the Windows + H shortcut.
Other notable upgrades in the new update include:
- Windows Terminal, a new application for users of the command line, which allow you to use emoji-rich fonts and GPU-accelerated text imaging.
- Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) has a real Linux kernel. This makes it very easy to learn and use Linux, and users can now work in Windows and develop on Linux at the same time.
- Microsoft has added new security features to Microsoft Authentication Libraries for .NET.
- New capabilities have been added to the optional features page. Now, a user can choose multiple optional features and install these features all at once. Moreover, navigation has been made simpler: all operations can be done on one page.
- Bluetooth connectivity has also been improved. Now, connections can be made directly from the notification — there is no need to go to the Settings app.
Sometimes, performing an OS update may lead to device incompatibilities on your PC. In order to avoid that, you need to make sure that all your system drivers are up-to-date. There are two ways in which you can go about updating your graphics driver: you can do it manually or automatically.
Updating your drivers manually is typically recommended for more experienced users as it will involve a series of steps, each of which needs to be done correctly. This can be quite a time-consuming process, and if you do make a mistake when updating your drivers, this can result in more issues for your PC.
If you’ve never updated your drivers before and don’t feel like taking any risks, you can use specialized software to do the work for you. Auslogics Driver Updater, for instance, can run an automatic check-up of your system drivers, detecting existing and potential issues — and will then have your drivers automatically updated to the latest versions in a matter of just one click.
If you want to get more optimization features out of the update, there is another way to go about it. A program such as Auslogics BoostSpeed can give your system an overall boost by getting rid of junk and other unnecessary files. BoostSpeed also comes with a very handy feature called Manual Internet Optimizer, which will give you more control over your network configuration and share suggestions on how to tweak your network settings for optimum speed.
