Microsoft announced that it would soon begin rolling out its new “News and Interests” Taskbar feature that has been in the works for a while now, allowing users to look at news and weather without opening any apps. The widget also expands to include a feed of news, stocks, sports, and weather information.
The mini-feed of content only appears when you activate the widget, and it can be fully personalized with the latest sports news, headlines, and weather information. Microsoft is using its Microsoft News network to surface news and content from more than 4,500 sources, and the company will use AI to learn what news is relevant to you when you dismiss or like stories in the feed.
It’s easy to disable, or you can simply keep the weather information appearing in the taskbar. This new widget will start rolling out today to those who opt into the April 2021 cumulative update preview for Windows 10, and broader availability will happen over the next few weeks as the May Windows security update starts rolling out.
Microsoft has been testing this taskbar widget since January, and it’s surprising to see it appear early ahead of the company’s planned 21H1 and 21H2 updates to Windows 10 this year. Microsoft is in the final stages of testing for the 21H1 update, which is expected to launch next month, but this new taskbar widget will be available to Windows 10 users running on version 1909 or above.
