Windows 10 Redstone 2 to Overhaul the Taskbar with New People Bar Feature

[Batu69]

Microsoft working on new taskbar feature for Redstone 2

   This is how the People Bar could be integrated into the taskbar

 

Windows 10 Redstone 2 is already in the works, and while the existing preview builds do not bring much in terms of new features, Microsoft is actually developing several exciting improvements that should start showing up in the coming updates for insiders.

As we’ve already told you, Microsoft is working on adding f.lux-like functionality in Windows 10 Redstone 2, and now a new report from WindowsCentral confirms that such a feature is indeed in development, and it’s internally called Blue Light. What’s important to know, however, is that this is just a placeholder for the time being, and Microsoft is very likely to pick a different name before RS2 goes live in spring 2017.

But it turns out that there’s more to come in the upcoming preview builds, and one new feature that’s likely to see daylight is called People Bar.

Integrated into the taskbar, People Bar brings the most recent and the currently active contacts right next to the system tray, making it super easy to start a conversation or email one of them. The purpose here is to improve the communication and collaboration side of Windows 10, and the source writes that it’ll come with support for Skype, GroupMe, Office, and possibly other apps.

In development since 2015

It appears that this feature had been in the works under closed doors in Redmond even before Microsoft shipped Windows 10 in July 2015, but the company just wasn’t pleased with how it worked and decided to hold it back until Redstone 2.

The current implementation that’s available in private internal builds relies on circular icons that show either your contacts’ initials or their profile picture, and contacting one of them is as easy as clicking their icon.

For the moment, it’s not yet known when this feature is expected to debut in Windows 10 Redstone 2 preview builds, but since Microsoft’s already testing it internally, it shouldn’t take too long before we get our hands on it. A new build should see daylight next week for both PCs and mobile, so fingers crossed to see some new goodies included.

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[straycat19]

More bells and whistles and still an unstable core OS.  Or should I just be honest and tell it like it is, more crap to clutter up your hard drive and something 99% of the users will never use.  Most people just boot the OS and then run their one or two favorite games or programs, surf the web and check email.  Which is why Linux can be an attractive alternative for most people and it runs on older hardware with amazing speed.

[vitorio]

I think the people's bar is a great idea to me.

[Jordan]

Windows 10 will get Night Mode and People Bar features with Redstone 2

 

As you might be already knowing, the latest Insider Preview builds of Windows 10 include features that the next major feature update to Windows 10, known as 'Redstone 2' will have. While there is no information yet on what exactly will be included in the final version of Redstone 2, a couple of new features recently discovered can give us an idea.

Lucky users who were able to get an internal build of Windows 10 'Redstone 2' report that currently Microsoft has added two new features.

The first one is 'Blue Light' reduction. When enabled, it makes the screen color gamma more comfortable for eyes at night by reducing blue light. Colors become more warm and the backlight will be dimmed, so it causes less eye strain. This feature will be welcomed by those who have to work late or read from the screen a lot at night and without any surrounding light.

 

 

Currently, it can be enabled using the Quick Action button in the Action Center pane.

Note: the 'Blue Light' name of the feature is temporary and can change in the stable release of the operating system.

 

It is worth mentioning that the idea behind this is not new. For example, the popular Android firmware 'CyanogenMod' and its counterpart 'CyanogenOS' have similar functionality out of the box. Windows and Linux users can use third party apps like RedShift or f.Lux to do the same. Android 7.0 Nougat already offers a hidden Night Mode feature that reduces the amount of blue light that your device emits at night. Some manufacturers like Huawei already offer this feature in the latest phones like Honor 8 on Android Marshmallow too.

 

The second feature is the 'People Bar'. It is a special toolbar for the taskbar which shows icons of recent/active contacts. As of this writing, it is not known exactly what functionality it will provide or why contacts are directly on the taskbar. Probably, it exists to give you quick access to messaging options via Email and Skype and aggregate information from Skype, Email, People and other apps which have collaboration tasks.

 

 

This feature might be welcomed by mobile device users, where such a toolbar can save them time. I am not sure about desktop users, because Windows has the system tray (notification area), an Action Center with popup toasts and taskbar buttons which themselves flash and highlight. All these can be used for the same purpose instead of a huge toolbar which steals precious taskbar space and exposes your contacts directly to anyone looking at your screen.

 

 

 

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