Windows 10 taskbar gets one of the biggest updates in years — What you need to know

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The news and interests card will arrive on the Windows 10 taskbar in the coming weeks

Windows 10
(Image credit: Microsoft/YouTube)

Microsoft is updating the Windows 10 taskbar to show you more personalized content, including relevant news and interests. 

A new icon will appear on the bottom-right of the taskbar, to the left of the current "Show hidden icons" arrow. In the example provided by Microsoft, a weather widget shows a sun icon with the temperature in Fahrenheit. When you click on it, a large window expands revealing the latest news, stocks, sports scores and other information relevant to your interests. 

Pressing on any of these cards will take you to the source of the info. For example, selecting the score of the San Francisco Giants game will take you to MLB.com, or a news article about politics might direct you to the New York Times. If you want to see more weather information, you can simply hover over the icon instead of clicking on it. You can even save something for later if you spot interesting news but don't have time to read the full article. 

Everyone will have a unique experience with the updated taskbar as it shows personalized information. Each of the cards can be adjusted so the weather can be shown as an icon with text or as an icon only (so it takes up less space). If you want to keep the taskbar as is, the feature can be turned off altogether. 

What's key here is that you can choose what type of info appears – weather, finance, sports, traffic – when you launch the "news and interests" pop-up. You can also personalize the content by managing your interests via a new interest manager feature. Not only can you choose the topics, but you can pick which sources to get content from. 

The new taskbar update will arrive in the "next several weeks" though a "phased and measured approach" is being taken so broad availability won't arrive for a few months. 

Phillip Tracy
Phillip Tracy

Phillip Tracy is the assistant managing editor at Laptop Mag where he reviews laptops, phones and other gadgets while covering the latest industry news. After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Phillip became a tech reporter at the Daily Dot. There, he wrote reviews for a range of gadgets and covered everything from social media trends to cybersecurity. Prior to that, he wrote for RCR Wireless News covering 5G and IoT. When he's not tinkering with devices, you can find Phillip playing video games, reading, traveling or watching soccer.