Windows 10 news recap: transparency, Spartan love, and GDC

Zac Bowden

Windows 10

Another week has flown by, and still no new Windows 10 build for us to play with. I know, it’s terrible. But alas, regardless of a new Windows 10 build, there’s always Windows 10 news to talk about. This week, we took a closer look at Cortana integration with Spartan on Windows 10. Cortana integration is one feature that stood out to me when Microsoft unveiled Spartan back in January. The idea is simple, Cortana surfs the web with you, occasionally pulling in useful information that can help you out.

Up next this week, screenshots leaked from build 10022 unveiled slight UI improvements to the task view area of Windows 10. Although small, this is an excellent example of how Microsoft is continuing to refine the UI in Windows 10. Right now, the Task View UI is a little sloppy in 9926, so it’s good to see this UI get a slight update.

This week also saw Microsoft announce a whole load of news from its GDC event. Xbox head Phil Spencer unveiled Microsoft’s plans to seamlessly integrate Windows 10 with it’s Xbox and tablet business. Spencer and the Xbox team are carefully plotting a course that will have the Xbox console expand beyond the boarders of entertainment while still focusing on it’s core aspect of gaming.

MWC was also a talking point of this weeks Windows 10 news, with the announcement of the Lumia 640 and 640 XL. The event saw the announcement of the Lumia 640 and the 640 XL. Both are mid-rangers, sporting 720p screens and interesting camera set-ups, with the XL being touted as the more premium of the two. The two devices will come sporting attractive price tags and will do much to whet the appetites of impatient Windows Phone fans before the release of Windows 10 later in the year.

And finally this week, screenshots from Windows 10 build 10031 leaked, finally unveiling a transparent Start Menu. We expect transparency to begin showing up in other areas of the UI soon, but it’s great to finally see transparency begin showing up in some places. Hopefully an ‘aura’ effect will get added to it for maximum attractiveness.

So there you have it, another week of Windows 10 news in the bag. What was your favorite story? Leave your comments below!