14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9860 launched with several important additions, including a brand new notification center that was also available in the original testing version but was locked for everyone.
The notification center, which Microsoft refers to as the “action center,” is the unique destination for notifications on your system, working in a similar way to the ones available on Windows Phone 8.1 handsets.
With a very simple design and still basic features that remind of its smartphone sibling, the notification center automatically takes over all messages displayed by your system, including security warnings, Skype messages, emails, Facebook posts, invites, and everything else.
All are displayed in a very clean window available just near the System Tray, and a click on any of the notifications launches the app that sent it.
Turned on by default, no options to disable it
At this point, the notification center is available on all Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9860 systems and doesn’t include any option to disable it. The notification center icon is placed near the System Tray and cannot be moved to a different location.
There are no options available right now and the only thing you can do with your notifications is to either click on them and launch their apps or clear them all using a dedicated button available for this purpose.
Otherwise, it’s still a very basic notification center that will be significantly improved in the coming releases, as work on more updates is completed.
Quick actions coming in future updates
One of the features that Microsoft is already working on is quick actions that will allow users to perform certain tasks straight from the notification center. Replying emails or Skype messages, posting on Facebook, or accepting and rejecting invites should all be possible in future updates.
“This build is focused ONLY on enabling basic notifications – quick actions and cleaner UI will come later. You’ll see notifications from the system and apps – from new emails and invites to IMs, Facebook posts and more – all in one place, so you don’t miss a thing,” Microsoft explained.
At this point, users are also allowed to temporarily disable notifications for a pre-defined period of time, but no other customization settings are being offered.
Future Windows 10 Technical Preview updates, however, are expected to include many improvements for this new feature, so it remains to be seen how much the company can actually improve the notification center before the stable version of Windows 10 comes out.
