Just one more thing: Windows 10 May 2020 Update hits Release Preview - The Register |
| Just one more thing: Windows 10 May 2020 Update hits Release Preview - The Register Posted: 04 May 2020 07:21 AM PDT Also: new toys for Your Phone and The Windows That Microsoft Wants To Forget drops to single digits Today we learned there is a statue of Peter Falk as Columbo in Budapest... Round Up The finishing line for Windows 10 20H1 hoved into view, YourPhone got audio toys and differential sync was finally rolled out for OneDrive. Here is a collation of events you may have missed from Microsoft. Windows 10 – this is the one, we really mean it this timeDemonstrating that the spirit of Columbo is alive and well within the walls of Redmond campus, the company pushed build 19041.208 to the Windows Insiders' Release Preview Ring, a scant few weeks after insisting 19041.207 was the one and only. There was, as Peter Falk's be-raincoated detective might say: "Just one more thing." The build had spent some time in the Slow Ring before being shunted to Release Preview and the fix in question is related to the The three or four people using Windows Mixed Reality would do well to steer clear of this release for a little while - a fix for a borkage with the tech is due in "early May" and there are issues with the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DSIM) tool, also to be fixed "in an upcoming servicing release." The release will be pushed to a limited subset of Release Preview Windows Insiders first (although the keen can manually check for updates.) Also known as Windows 10 2004 or 20H1, the release should become generally available within the coming weeks. Unless Senior Program Manager, Brandon LeBlanc, plans to don the Columbo raincoat for another just one more thing... Update of the Damned now down to single digit market shareThe Windows team's has stats that show Windows 10 1809 usage finally fell to a single digit market share, according to figures from ad slinger, AdDuplex. Memorably, 1809 triggered an existential crisis within the Windows team after going direct from Slow Ring to general availability. LeBlanc defended the move at the time, before everything went horribly, horribly wrong. The drop from 11.4 per cent in March to 9.3 per cent came as the November 2019 Update reached 33.4 per cent, up from 28.2 per cent. The May 2019 Update market-share fell ever so slightly, to 49.2 per cent from 50.7 per cent. While Microsoft has extended servicing for last year's Windows, the imminent arrival of the May 2020 Update should finally put the demons of 1809 to rest once and for all. That is unless you're running the Long Term Servicing Channel version, in which case you could have a lingering reminder of the time Microsoft nearly dealt a mortal blow to its flagship OS, which will be knocking around until the plug gets pulled in 2029. Your Phone gets audio toys and COVID-19 reaches the search boxThe busy week for the Windows team also included a Fast Release of Windows 10 Build 19619.1000, which was light on features, although Insiders were doubtless delighted to note "easy access to COVID-19 info in your search box" because, heck, it's not as if the rest of the media is not awash with stories regarding the ongoing pandemic. The search feature is not limited to Preview builds and has hit 33 markets, according to Microsoft. It can also be dismissed with a click of the X. While very light on core OS features (you'll now be told if time syncing fails due to network connectivity) and fixes (a few bug-checks have been dealt with) the gang did highlight the latest version of the Your Phone app, replete with a preview of audio control functionality. As well as being Android-only (iPhone users need not apply) only those Android apps that support media controls in notifications (such as Spotify) are supported. Audible and YouTube are notable by their absence from the supported list. Differential sync finally comes to OneDriveOneDrive users were cheered last week as Microsoft finally completed the roll out of differential sync for personal and business users. The feature, which only synchronises changes made to a file rather than the entire file itself, should result in less data flung around which, in turn, means less bandwidth being required. It has been a while coming and showed up in the roadmap back in September last year. Rival cloud storage slinger, DropBox, has also had the function for a while now and only uploads changes rather than an entire file every time. Those responsible for managing back-up systems will also be vaguely surprised that it took Microsoft quite so long to roll out a feature they have long enjoyed. PowerToys edge closer to release with the arrival of auto-updatingThose using Microsoft's modern take on the very retro PowerToys will be heartened to learn that as of version 0.17 it will now update itself rather than displaying a terse notification that some version increment or other is available. Those who prefer their apps not to switch out their undergarments without warning still have the option to stop the updates from downloading automatically. The gang has also dealt with a swathe of bugs related to the FancyZones window snapping tool and made it possible for the (still in preview) app to run for non-administrative users. PowerToys remains x64-only for the time being, and the next major update (v0.18) should include the replacement launcher. A few other tweaks are planned, including a keyboard remapper and a warmed-over editor for FancyZones ahead of a final v1.0 in September. ® Sponsored: Practical tips for Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration |
| What Is Dropbox Smart Sync? A Guide for 2020 - Cloudwards Posted: 22 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT Since its inception in 2007, Dropbox has become a household name, and for good reason. It is easy to use and full of attractive features. Plus, while many cloud storage services leave chunky files on your computer, Dropbox has a nifty option on both Windows and Mac called Smart Sync that lets you leave all those files online, helping you free up that much-needed hard drive space. It is a premium feature, though, available only for paid plans. Although it does sound enticing, the Dropbox personal plan already offers a similar — if more limited — option called Selective Sync in its free Basic plan. Read on to find out more about Smart Sync and all that it offers. What Is Dropbox Smart Sync?Dropbox's Smart Sync feature lets you clear space by setting your files and folders as "online only." This means that they will only be accessible online until you decide to download them to your hard drive. Unlike with Selective Sync, you can still see these files in your Dropbox folder, meaning they're always just a click away. How Does Smart Sync Work?When you set a file or folder to "online only" using Smart Sync, you create a copy of it online that's available to you only on the Dropbox website or the mobile app. The file is gone from your hard drive, but an icon remains in the Dropbox folder representing your online file and doesn't take up hard disk space. You can still see the file's size, but the size on your disk will always be zero.  However, as soon as you open one of these files in the Dropbox desktop app, it will sync and download to your computer. This lets you edit your file offline, but when you're done, you will have to manually set it to "online only" again.  Nowadays, most cloud services offer similar functionality, and a lot of them include it in their free plans, as well. There are plenty of options out there for you to choose from. You can find out more about the competition and what they have to offer in our best cloud storage lineup. How to Use Dropbox Smart Sync You can activate Smart Sync in several ways. First, you can change your sync settings to only keep files online for your entire Dropbox folder. This is done through the "sync" tab in the "preferences" menu, accessible through the system tray icon. Your files will be visible and marked by a gray cloud icon, meaning Smart Sync is enabled for them. You can enable Smart Sync for individual files and folders, as well. This can be done either through the "sync" tab or by right-clicking them and selecting "online only" from the Smart Sync dropdown.  Something you can't do with Dropbox Selective Sync is preview or alter online-only files in the Dropbox app on your computer. Smart Sync lets you make some changes to these files, and you can see their size, as well, letting you easily check storage space. You can also move them around, delete them and preview them. Should I Use Smart Sync?If you're a Dropbox power user and you're already subscribed to one of the pricey higher tier plans, then yes, Smart Sync is going to be very useful for you. It's less finicky than "selective sync" and it's a good option to have overall. However, if you're on a free plan and you're comparing Smart Sync vs Selective Sync, you'll find that it offers only slight improvements in usability. Smart Sync is simply not a good reason to upgrade your plan, especially because Dropbox's plans are among the most expensive, while competitors such as pCloud offer better features for free. What to Do When Smart Sync Isn't WorkingIf you find yourself in a pinch with Smart Sync, the first thing you should do is check your internet connection. If all is well there, check Windows Defender and your antivirus to make sure Dropbox is whitelisted. If that doesn't solve your problem, a good old reboot might do the trick. Then if you're still having issues, you can check out the many articles in the Dropbox help center. You can also contact customer support, which is available either through email or live chat, or you could even ask someone on Dropbox's forums.  Final ThoughtsWith Smart Sync, Dropbox has taken a step in the right direction. It's a fine feature to have, but the competition is stiff in the cloud sector, with other services like Sync.com bringing similar options to the table at a lower cost. Sign up for our newsletter While it's still worth using if you're already on a paid plan, it's just not a good enough reason to subscribe, as Selective Sync already covers most of what Smart Sync does, but for free. Still, it does its job and is overall a very useful feature. We hope this short guide will help you get started, and we recommend you download Dropbox today to check it out. Thank you for reading. |
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