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Everything old is new again as widgets come to the Windows 10 action center

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WinBeta
Windows 10’s action center is clean and intuitive, but it isn’t the most dynamic or engaging. That’s something that Microsoft is looking to fix with its upcoming ‘Cards’ update. Detailed for the first time at the Microsoft Build conference this week, the software giant discussed its new aesthetic look, as well as updated features and functions.

The big update to the Action Center is widgets and tiles, which allow developers to add much more information than ever before. Images, animations and text from a number of new sources can all be leveraged within the panel, allowing for much more detailed data for users, as well as a more engaging look for the whole platform.

Images will also be used to identify where the information is coming from, giving you an idea at a glance, about who has sent you that notification.

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Something that will put a smile on the face of many Windows 10 users though, is that the Action Center is set to receive cross platform support, letting you sync up your PC, smartphone and other Windows devices with the cloud. Dismissing a notification on your phone, will dismiss that same notification on your PC and vice versa.

If you don’t have a Windows handset, Winbeta reports that that won’t actually matter. Due to Cortana’s support on Android, you can still use the cross-platform Action Center.

The ‘Cards’ update as it is internally known, isn’t getting its own release, but will show up as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer, making the Action Center far more useful for everyone.

This will also mark the near-end of the free upgrade period for older Windows users who still haven’t yet claimed their Windows 10 license. If you haven’t yet, give it some thought. It’ll cost a lot more when August rolls around.

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Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale
Computing Coordinator
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
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