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The free upgrade to Windows 10 includes many new useful features. While this isn’t new news, we felt it was a good time to revisit some of the benefits of upgrading to Windows 10. The free upgrade window is only valid for those who upgrade before July 29, 2016. If you haven’t upgraded yet, check out what you’re missing.

Background Scrolling

With Windows 10 you can now use the mouse scroll wheel to scroll in any window without needing to first click on the window. In older versions of Windows you would need to click on a window to scroll through it, making things a bit cumbersome when you are switching back and forth between applications in which you are scrolling. A good example is using an Internet page and a word document at the same time. Now you need only hover your mouse over the window you want to scroll through.

Utilize virtual Desktops.

Like to multi-task? Windows 10 comes with the ability to have multiple desktops. If you have too many application windows cluttering your screen, you can now organize them into multiple separate desktops. We find this useful when working from home. To keep work and personal separate—and our desktop from getting too crowded—we create a desktop for each.

To access the virtual desktop feature, click the “Task View” icon to the right of Cortina. It looks like two rectangles stacked upon one another

To add another desktop, click the + New Desktop icon in the lower right corner of the screen.

To switch between desktops, click the Task View icon and select the desktop you want. You can also switch desktops quickly using the following key combinations; Windows + CTRL + Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Record a video of an App

Windows comes with a feature which was intended to be used as a Game DVR, allowing you to capture your most glorious gaming moments; but it will actually let you create videos of almost any open app or desktop software (though not OS level areas like file explorer or desktop).

To open the feature, simply press the Windows key + G key. A black box will appear asking you if this is a game, click yes, and then various options will appear. Simply click the circular Record button to capture a video.

Use Microsoft Edge web browser to cast to TV’s and More

Microsoft has included a new web browser with Windows 10 called Edge. One of the many new features that come with Edge is the ability to display your computer screen on your TV wirelessly. To display your computer screen on your TV, open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner to view the drop down menu. Click Cast media to device. Within a moment a black box will appear listing the names of all the available devices you can beam to. Unfortunately this features requires a Miracast/ DLNA compatible device. If your TV is not compatible, you can purchase an adapter made by Microsoft for $45.

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