14 DAY TRIAL // Many users complained that, in Windows 10, the location system is inaccurate, and as a result, a number of apps such as Cortana and Maps fail to work properly, which makes the operating system as a whole a little bit disappointing for those who rely a lot on such features.
But in a post published recently, Analy, a program manager at Microsoft, explains how this location system works and reveals that the company is already aware of the issues and is working on a fix as we speak.
Basically, on PCs with a GPS module (it’s worth noting that GPS isn’t a common feature on desktop computers because they’re not supposed to be moved from one location to another in the first place), Microsoft uses a Wi-Fi adapter to locate you. In case no Wi-Fi adapter is available, the only way to determine your location is by analyzing your IP, which in most cases isn’t the most accurate way to do it, but it’s actually the only way.
“Using this technique, the results can vary widely in accuracy and can sometimes be incorrect. This has always been the case and we do not expect users to see a major difference here between Windows 10 and previous versions of Windows,” Analy goes on to detail.
Improvements to PCs with Wi-Fi adapters
On the other hand, devices with a Wi-Fi adapter can expect improvements to the location system, as the company is already working on patches that should be released soon.
Analy says that a Wi-Fi adapter can help Windows 10 determine your location with a +/- 50 to 150 meter accuracy and the development team is working to make this possible with a future update.
“We have uncovered some issues with certain Wi-Fi hardware in Windows 10 that results in a failure getting the positioning from Wi-Fi and thus falling back to the much less accurate IP based positioning. This causes the location shown to users to be incorrect or highly inaccurate even when the device is connected to Wi-Fi and will impact some users after upgrading from a previous version of Windows to Windows 10,” she adds.
It's not yet clear when these updates could be released to users, but expect either a cumulative update or the big release coming in late October / early November to bring improvements in this regard.