In this and the next article coming up, I’m going to show you the new Windows 10 update features. After reading these two articles, you should print them out, because there is a lot of new stuff to go over.

Windows updates can fail to install properly if your PC doesn’t have enough free disk space. Microsoft is solving the problem by commandeering about 7 GB of your PC’s storage and making it into “reserved storage.”

Windows Home users can now pause updates for up to seven days. It’s a great feature if you need a temporary reprieve from updates. Windows 10 Professional users can still pause updates for up to 35 days at a time.

Windows 10 now has two separate options: Windows Mode and App Mode. You can choose any combination of the two settings. Windows now lets you unpin groups of tiles by right-clicking them and selecting the “Unpin Group From Start” option. You don’t have to remove tiles one by one anymore.

Windows Sandbox is an isolated desktop environment where you can run software in a container without affecting your host operating system. When you close the Sandbox, all the software and files in the sandbox are deleted.

Windows 10 has a search bar that’s integrated with Cortana, but they’re separating. In the April 2019 update, the search bar functions as a normal search box, and there’s a separate Cortana icon on the Windows taskbar. You can leave the search box on the taskbar and hide the Cortana icon or hide the search box and leave Cortana. Of course, you can also hide both.

Now, you could leave the search bar on the taskbar and disable the Cortana icon, putting Alexa in its place.

The Start Menu’s search box is getting a lot more useful, however! The file search feature in the Start Menu can now search for files anywhere on your PC using the Windows search index.

To enable this, head to Settings > Search > Searching Windows and select “Enhanced (Recommended)” to make the indexer search your entire PC.

Microsoft is pursuing “a world without passwords.” You can now create a Microsoft account without a password online. That account is linked to your phone number, and Microsoft will text you a security code whenever you try to sign in.

On the latest version of Windows 10, you can now sign into it with these password-less accounts and set up a PIN or other Windows Hello sign-in feature to secure your computer. The account doesn’t have a password you ever have to type.

Windows update now has a notification (system tray) icon for updates. You can head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced Options and enable the “Show a notification when your PC requires a restart to finish updating” option to enable it. After you do, you’ll see a Windows Update icon with an orange dot in your taskbar’s notification area when you need to reboot your PC.

Microsoft keeps changing Windows 10’s update naming scheme. Windows 10’s October 2018 update was named Redstone. Now, to make things even simpler, the April 2019 update was named 19H1, as it was scheduled for release in the first half of 2019.

Windows 10’s console now lets you zoom in and out. Just hold the Control key and scroll with your mouse or trackpad. There are also some new experimental console features you can adjust. Right-click any console window’s title bar, select “Properties” and click the “Terminal” tab to find them. For example, you can configure the text entry cursor’s color and shape.

Windows has had troubleshooters for a while, but you had to know what type of problem your PC was having and then navigate to the correct troubleshooter. Now, you can just navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot. You’ll see a list of recommended troubleshooters that Windows thinks might fix your problem.

Send your computer-related questions to mauimist8669@yahoo.com.