14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft recently announced that Sets, the feature that brings tabs all across Windows 10, would not launch with the next OS update, though the company claimed it’d return at some point in the future for another round of testing.
Little has been said about the reasons behind this decision and the announcement has disappointed many, especially because Sets was already part of preview builds of Windows 10 Redstone 5 and, at first glance, it looked like everything was running smoothly.
But this only happened at first glance, as a closer look at the changes brought by Sets reveals that the feature actually caused several app compatibility problems that eventually broke down certain functionality in third-party apps.
A report from MSPU reveals that reddit apps are one such example, as the removal of Sets from Windows 10 Redstone 5 build returns them to normal, with everything working correctly after previously being rather unstable.
Third-party app struggles
Furthermore, third-party developers also salute Microsoft’s decision to pull Sets temporarily, explaining that their apps were sometimes broken down to the tab implementation.
“Wohooo! 17704 reverted "sets" which i suspected was the reason running a "Webview" in a "separateprocess" was broken !!! And now everything works again!! Ahh "sets" you were SO buggy, you were nice, but such a pain for devs !!” developer Jose Fajardo said on Twitter.
Very important to have in mind is that Sets isn’t a killed off feature, but once whose debut is only delayed. While Redstone 5 won’t include it, there’s a good chance the next update due in the spring of 2019 would come with at least similar functionality, though I personally expect tabs to land in Windows 10 in a slightly different form and with more options.
Redstone 5 is projected to launch in the fall, with Microsoft’s typical release schedule pointing to September as the month when the update should be finalized.