Windows 10 1909 (November 2019 Update) Features

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By Victor Ashiedu

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The latest version of Windows 10 1909 was released November, 2019. This guide details Windows 10 1909 features.

The features discussed in this guide are divided into two categories:

  1. Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users
  2. Windows 10 1909 Features for Administrators

Top Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users

This section details the top features of the latest Windows 10 Preview for end users. The features discussed in this section will be of interest to users.

If you are a Windows Systems Administrator and like to review the features beneficial to admins, read the features for admins, vendors and OEMs.

Here are the top features that will be of interest to a Windows user:

Ability to Create Events from Calendar Flyout on the Taskbar

Top Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users

This brand new feature makes it easy for you to add an event or reminder to your calendar.

To add an event from Taskbar Calendar flyout:

  • Click on the time and date on the right of task bar.
Top Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users
  • Then click the date you wish to add the event. Finally, add details of your event. Select a time range and click Save.

Start menu Navigation Pane Now Expands On Hover

Top Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users

Before Windows 10 1909, when you hover over start menu navigation pane, you have to click to expand it.

Now if you hover over an item, it auto-expands. This makes it quicker for you to see the details of the item.

Here is a demo of this new Windows 10 1909 feature..

  • Click start menu.
Top Windows 10 1909 Features for End Users
  • If you hover over any of the highlighted menu items, it expands. You do not have to click it first. See the second image below…

“Notifications & actions” Settings Sorting Now Defaults to Most Recent

windows 10 1909 features - "Notifications & actions" Settings Sorting Defaults to Most Recent

Before 1909, Settings > System > Notifications & actions could only be sorted by name. Now it defaults to sorting by “Most recent”.

The option to sort this setting was not available in the previous versions of Windows 10. Now you can sort it by Name or Most Recent.

Here is the demo of this new feature:

  • Right-click start menu and click System.
  • At Settings, click Notifications & actions.
  • Scroll down to Get notifications from these apps. It now has an option to Sort by which defaults to Most Recent. Compare this to the 1903 (see the second image below). The second image (Windows 10 1903) does not have a Sort by option. It sorts by Name…

“Manage notifications” button Now included in Notifications

When you open a Notification, you now have a “Manage notifications” button right on top of the notification. When you click this button it takes you to Notifications & actions settings.

With this new feature, you can turn off notifications from the app quickly without having to go through Settings > System.

If this sounds very technical, it means that when you search for things in File Explorer, results will return faster.

This is beneficial to you as an end user as it makes it easier to find your files! When you type in File Explorer search bar, it auto-completes…

Here is a demo for this new feature:

  • Right-click start menu. Then click File Explorer.
  • When File Explorer opens, for a better search experience expand the search bar. To resize the search bar, place your mouse at the starting border of the search bar. The mouse will turn into a double-arrow resizing cursor. Drag left. Your File Explorer search bar will become wider. See the second image below.
windows 10 1909 features
windows 10 1909 features
  • Now when you type on the search bar, you have have faster result.
windows 10 1909 features

These are some of the major Windows 10 1909 features beneficial to end users.

Windows 10 1909 Features for Administrators, OEMs and Vendors

Here are some of the major features added to this new build that will be of interest to Windows Systems Administrators, Vendors and OEMs:

The numbering in this section continues from the previous section.

Windows containers require matched host and container version

This new feature restricts customers and limits Windows containers from supporting mixed-version container pod scenarios.

The update also includes 5 fixes to address this and allow the host to run down-level containers on up-level for process (Argon) isolation.

A New Fix that Allows OEMs to Reduce Inking Latency

One of the notable Windows 10 1909 features for OEMs is a fix that allows OEMs to reduce the inking latency based on the hardware capabilities of their devices.

Before this fix, OEMs could not adjust inking latency. They were stuck with latency selected on typical hardware configuration by the Operating System.

Key-rolling or Key-rotation Feature

This feature enables secure rolling of Recovery passwords on MDM managed AAD devices upon on demand request from Microsoft Intune/MDM tools or upon every time recovery password is used to unlock the BitLocker protected drive.

It will help prevent accidental recovery password disclosure as part of manual BitLocker drive unlock by users.

New Third-party Digital Assistants Voice Activation Option

This is one of the new Windows 10 1909 features for app vendors. It enables third-party digital assistants to voice activate above the Lock screen.

Additional Windows 10 1909 features for Admins, OEMs and Vendors

Here are more features of this new feature upgrade that will interest OEMs, Admins and Vendors:

  1. General improvements to battery life and power efficiency improvements for PCs with certain processors.
  2. Implementation of a rotation policy that distributes work more fairly among multiple “favored” processors core (logical processors of the highest available scheduling class).
  3. Windows Defender Credential Guard now available for ARM64 devices. This provides additional protection against credential theft for companies deploying ARM64 devices in their organizations.
  4. Enterprises can now supplement the Windows 10 in S Mode policy to allow traditional Win32 (desktop) apps from Microsoft Intune.

These are the new Windows 10 1909 features.

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Furthermore, if you want to install this new version of Windows 10, click How to Install Windows 10 1909 (19H2) Preview Build.

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About the Author

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Victor Ashiedu

Victor is the founder of InfoPress Media, publishers of Ilifeguides and Itechguides. With 20+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, his expertise spans Windows, Linux, and DevOps. Explore his contributions on Itechguides.com for insightful how-to guides and product reviews.

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