Microsoft Releases New Windows 10 Build, Previews New Calendar App

Microsoft is releasing a new build of Windows 10 to Insiders in the Fast Ring today. The company is rolling out build 19564 to Insiders in the Fast Ring this evening.

The new build does not include a lot of major new feature, but there is a key new improvement, along with the usual bug fixes.

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The new build comes with an improved experience for Graphics Settings in the Settings app. Microsoft is introducing better control over your GPU settings with the updated interface. The GPU preference and app list are now “pre-populated on a best effort basis” to improve the default preference management experience in Windows 10. There’s also a new search box and filtering options that make it easier to find your apps.

More importantly, Microsoft is introducing a new preview of the Calendar app in Windows 10. The new preview is available to Windows Insiders starting today and introduces a new interface that seems to look much better than before.

The opt-in preview lets users choose from 34 different themes, and comes with a new month view. Microsoft has also simplified the process of creating new events, and there’s now a redesigned account navigation pane as well. “We’re updating the Calendar app for Windows 10 with improved features, new themes, and a cleaner interface that’s easier to use. The Calendar preview is an early look at this update. It will initially include a subset of the features currently available in Calendar today, and we’ll be adding more features each month,” the company said.

You can find the full changelog for Windows 10 build 19564 here. 

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Conversation 20 comments

  • mattbg

    Premium Member
    12 February, 2020 - 2:15 pm

    <p>This looks a lot like Outlook desktop's calendar view to me, though I'm sure it will be more fluid to use.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      13 February, 2020 - 8:15 am

      It just looks like the standard Calendar app with a new color scheme. 🙂

  • gregsedwards

    Premium Member
    12 February, 2020 - 2:19 pm

    <p>Nice, I'm in favor of any improvements to the core apps. But also consider that we've reached a point where installing Outlook.com as a PWA is really good enough for most people.</p>

    • thejoefin

      Premium Member
      12 February, 2020 - 3:18 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520152">In reply to gregsedwards:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think this is basically Outlook.com but the UI is built in React Native</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      12 February, 2020 - 7:28 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520152">In reply to gregsedwards:</a></em></blockquote><p>That's great if you use Outlook.com, but not everyone does.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      13 February, 2020 - 8:14 am

      Almost. It needs true multiple account support, not just one Gmail account, and the ability to view all inboxes at once. If you switch accounts now, you open a new tab, or, in a pinned PWA taskbar “app,” a new browser window. Not ideal.

  • thejoefin

    Premium Member
    12 February, 2020 - 3:19 pm

    <p>As the maker of a pen first calendar app for Windows 10 (Ink Calendar), I'm glad to see Microsoft is rebuilding the default calendar to be more like Outlook.com and not bring custom features like inking :)</p>

    • gregsedwards

      Premium Member
      12 February, 2020 - 4:33 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520162">In reply to TheJoeFin:</a></em></blockquote><p>Ha (I see what you did there). </p><p>As a fan of similar apps like Nebo for note-taking, I'm definitely intrigued. Where I'm torn is whether it's worth ditching an official app and all those features (email integration, multi-device sync, tasks, reminders, etc.) to get a richer inking experience. I mean, I can sort of ink in Mail/Calendar through the ink keyboard provided by Windows. Granted, it's not nearly as sophisticated as what you're doing in Ink Calendar, but at the end of the day, as long as it gets on the right calendar and I get a reminder…</p><p>Do you think that Microsoft is moving to make this kind of sophisticated ink support more broadly available in all apps, so that a developer doesn't have to create custom interactions in every app to handle handwriting conversion, gestures (e.g., cross-out to delete), moving hand-drawn objects, recognizing/converting hand-drawn objects to their "proper" digital counterparts, and so on? Or at the very least, allow developers to build add-ons that extend this kind of functionality to OOB apps?</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      13 February, 2020 - 8:12 am

      I feel like this doesn’t even rise to the level of rebuilding. It’s just an update to the existing app, not something new.

      • SvenJ

        14 February, 2020 - 3:56 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#520286"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a><em> </em>If it's just an update, why will it "<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">initially include a subset of the features currently available in Calendar today, and we’ll be adding more features each month," I'd think updating wouldn't start with stripping features.</span></blockquote><p><br></p>

      • thejoefin

        Premium Member
        17 February, 2020 - 10:16 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#520286">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>For some reason I thought the new Mail and Calendar apps were React Native and the old ones were XAML UWP.</p>

  • rm

    12 February, 2020 - 3:33 pm

    <p>I just wish the built in Win10 app and the outlook.com web site allowed for multiple email accounts just like the Outlook Android app.</p>

    • paradyne

      12 February, 2020 - 9:06 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520163">In reply to RM:</a></em></blockquote><p>The built in mail app absolutely supports multiple accounts, I use several.</p><p><br></p><p>Outlook.com now supports at least using my outlook account plus my gmail account. Not sure if it goes beyond that.</p>

  • dmaddogg

    12 February, 2020 - 5:26 pm

    <p>I wish the Windows 10 Calendar app had the ability to sync reminders from Google Calendar. That is the one thing keeping me from using it. Other than that I really like it, but those reminders…….. I need them.</p>

    • introweb

      12 February, 2020 - 11:12 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520206">In reply to dmaddogg:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote>I have the Windows 10 calendar syncing perfectly with my Google calendar. Same for Gmail messages and the Google calendar syncing with Outlook on the web. I can add events on the desktop calendar and they show up on the Google calendar within 30 seconds. It works the other way, too. I can add an event to the calendar through Google on my phone (or the web interface) and it shows up in the Windows calendar on my desktop, as well as in Outlook on my phone. Seamless integration and syncing makes me very pleased. I look forward to checking out the new Windows calendar when it arrives. Thanks, Paul, for this news. </blockquote><p><br></p>

  • bbold

    13 February, 2020 - 12:05 am

    <p>Oooh. Spiffy! Now howsabout adding features to Mail?</p>

  • solomonrex

    13 February, 2020 - 8:20 am

    <p>They really need to change their approach. Anything as deep and obscure as GPU settings should be hidden in settings files out of the way, except for what the vendors do (for those like us who buy GPUs and have to install special software). It's not that hard to edit a file, and hiding it from trivial minds is very necessary.</p><p><br></p><p>And there should be fewer things that can be set by policy – simplify. Let some scenarios break, it will be ok. How many little problems have I endured from incompetent yet overeager IT shops? Moving to the cloud doesn't solve these things, 'regular' Windows still needs to be modernized aggressively, beyond X.</p>

    • acemod13

      13 February, 2020 - 9:56 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#520292">In reply to solomonrex:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'm going to disagree a bit with the GPU settings being hidden. Since I have a computer with two GPUs (Intel HD Graphics 520 and AMD Radeon R5 M430), it's pretty handy in choosing which GPU should handle the rendering. Especially since the same option was removed from AMD's Radeon Software in 19.12.x. Having it on a hidden policy or a config file (or using a command line tool. I'm looking at you, Ubuntu) is ridiculous. Granted, most users will glance over it regardless, but for gamers and professionals, it would be a welcome option. And it could be transferable when you switch GPUs of different vendors.</p>

  • Omen_20

    13 February, 2020 - 1:39 pm

    <p>I wish they would integrate the system tray calendar with Outlook365/Teams.</p>

  • c3po2

    14 February, 2020 - 8:43 am

    <p>LOL I cannot even write that I like this new calendar UWP, that you delete the comment, ridicolous and chilish</p>

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