Windows 10 is getting a new feature for the lock screen, giving it a few extras that you'll either approve of or loathe, if the online reaction so far is anything to go by.
PhantomOfEarth, an ever-present leaker and enthusiast of delving into the hidden depths of Windows 11 pre-release builds, posted a screenshot of the new lock screen cards on X (formerly Twitter).
Additional lock screen cards, such as finance and sports, are rolling out for Windows 10 in KB5035941 (19045.4235). The feature can be enabled by running: vivetool /enable /id:48801541 pic.twitter.com/yNamIO4ZE5March 19, 2024
As the leaker explains, this is a feature that is implemented in Windows 10 in the Release Preview channel, with build 19045.4235, so not everyone will have it. But if it hasn't reached them yet, testers can force the functionality to work using ViVeTool (a Windows configuration utility).
These lock screen cards show the current weather and other snippets like sports match results, stock market happenings, local traffic, etc. In other words, information that may (or may not) be useful to you.
As PhantomOfEarth points out, the weather card has been modified to look better, although there's a sticking point here: you can show all of these cards or none at all. There is no option to choose if you don't want, for example, the finance-related card.
Analysis: Outlook inflation
For those thinking: wait a minute, Microsoft hasn't stopped adding features for Windows 10, and there's a comment to that effect about X? Well, the company adopted that as policy for a while, before rethinking it.
In short, new features are still being developed for Windows 10, like this particular addition, but don't expect a huge amount to be carried over over the next year and a half of Windows 10's remaining lifespan.
One cynical soul who responded to the tweet above suggests that the work being done is only there to upgrade to Windows 11, which is clearly very harsh, but the point is that there are people who don't like this change. They see these cards as a rather useless burden that will, perhaps, slow down your PC a little.
Of course, information cards are not mandatory; You can disable them if you don't like them. Although, as PhantomOfEarth says, it would be nice if you could disable selected cards, rather than just turning them all off (choice is always good), but maybe Microsoft will make it work this way in the future. After all, we are still in the testing phase, although this change is coming to Windows 10 very soon.
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