![\"windows](\"https:\/\/images.idgesg.net\/images\/article\/2020\/07\/windows-10-file-explorer-icon-big-100852153-large.jpg\"){kind=icon}
WHITE PAPERS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n SEE ALL WHITE PAPERS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The web is rife with rumors that for the first time in years, Windows 10 will get ‘a major OS upgrade’<\/a> in 2021. The upgrade, code-named Sun Valley, is expected to offer \u201cnew Start menu and Action Center experiences\u2026, an updated Taskbar built with modern code, and an improved UI for the legacy File Explorer.\u201d In addition, expect more rounded-off windows, better dark mode support, and more consistent use of Microsoft\u2019s Fluent Design rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be still my beating heart! Can you stand the excitement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To call those features a \u201cmajor OS upgrade\u201d shows just how low expectations have sunk for anything new in Windows 10. Once upon a time, they would be considered minor tweaks. But these days, you find barely any<\/em> new features in Microsoft\u2019s twice-a-year upgrades. So an updated Taskbar, tweaks to the Start menu and Action Center and subtle design changes sound like big breakthroughs to a tech press wanting something to sink their teeth into.[ Related: Troubleshooting Windows 10 with Reliability Monitor<\/a> ]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a simple reason Microsoft won\u2019t spent the time and resources to create something more groundbreaking for Windows 10: Windows isn\u2019t Microsoft\u2019s future \u2014 or these days, even its present. The company has in essence become a cloud company. Azure and OneDrive are two prime examples. But Office has become cloud-based as well, with Microsoft pushing Office 365 subscriptions rather than the client-based perpetual version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Windows 10 is a workaday solid, useful, relatively stable operating system. And for Microsoft, that\u2019s good enough. But that\u2019s not good enough for me. And it shouldn\u2019t be good enough for you, either. I\u2019m after something more than rounded windows or a new Action Center \u201cexperience.\u201d With that in mind, here are four things Microsoft should put into Windows 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in 2017, Microsoft announced it was bringing a truly innovative feature to Windows 10: Sets<\/a>. Sets would put tabs into applications, not just browsers, and let you create documents that would combine multiple apps \u2014 for example, a Word document that had browser tabs on it for accessing any online research you\u2019ve done. Sets would allow you to use your computer in the way you actually work in the real world. So you could create a single document about a new product you were launching that would have Excel tabs in it for financial analysis, Word tabs for press releases and product documentation, PowerPoint tabs for marketing plans, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Sets was announced, I thought it would become the most important Windows feature to come along in years. But now, three years later, it\u2019s still nowhere to be seen. On several occasions, Microsoft slipped it into Insider preview builds, and then pulled it. Microsoft never explained why it was pulled. But I think the reason is simple: The company doesn\u2019t want to spend the money and resources it would take to get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if Microsoft really wanted to deliver something of value, forget tweaking the Start menu. Give us Sets instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve all gotten used to the barely useful Windows Search box, and so we just assume that\u2019s the way search should be. But it isn\u2019t. Microsoft could do better. And it wouldn\u2019t take much to improve it. How about letting you easily narrow your search documents on your PC by folders? By date? How about something even better, like searching for documents that contain a specific word that\u2019s found with the same paragraph as another word? But Microsoft isn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to the Search box, Microsoft appears to have settled on \u201cgood-enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buy a new PC and it comes filled with gunk, bloat and assorted software junk. We\u2019ve gotten so used to it that we often don\u2019t even bother to clean it all out. But we shouldn\u2019t have to put up with it. So Microsoft should design a button that with a single click kills all bloatware. This would take barely any work on Microsoft\u2019s part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millions of Windows users, including me, would rejoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How about this one: An operating system that\u2019s reasonably safe. We\u2019ve gotten so used to how insecure Windows is, that we don\u2019t even see it anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider this \u2013 during the recent election, it required an all-hands-on deck partnership between federal intelligence agencies, security companies and Microsoft to make sure the U.S. election wasn\u2019t disrupted by foreign governments and hackers<\/a>. Enterprises shouldn\u2019t have to spend so much money fighting off attacks, either. Neither should utility companies and local and state governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the election, I\u2019ve heard plenty of people celebrating that we fended off those kinds of electoral attacks. Maybe that\u2019s cause for celebration, but it\u2019s also a sign of how we\u2019ve accepted that Windows is inherently insecure and dangerous \u2014 and we\u2019re happy simply when bad things don\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know full well that hackers and foreign governments target Windows because it\u2019s by far the world\u2019s dominant operating system, so it\u2019ll always be under siege more than macOS or Linux. But that doesn\u2019t mean we should give Microsoft a pass. Being the world leader means you have more responsibility to provide a secure experience. We shouldn\u2019t have to go to extraordinary efforts to make sure our voting, businesses, utilities, government operations and more are safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will Microsoft deliver on any or all of these? Not likely. Instead, we\u2019ll get rounded windows. But we can dream, can\u2019t we?Related: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld and the author of more than 45 books, including Windows 8 Hacks<\/em> (O’Reilly, 2012) and How the Internet Works<\/em> (Que, 2006).Follow<\/p>\n\n\n\n Copyright \u00a9 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.YOU MAY ALSO LIKE<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recommended by<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n SHOP TECH PRODUCTS AT AMAZON<\/p>\n\n\n\nFinally, deliver Sets<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
RECOMMENDED WHITEPAPERS<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
A better Search box<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A push-button to kill bloatware<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A secure operating system<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SPONSORED LINKS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"IDG](\"https:\/\/alt.idgesg.net\/images\/logos\/logo-footer-white.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n