Since Microsoft has shipped the April 2018 Update for Windows 10, it's moving full speed ahead to the next version of Windows, Redstone 5, due this fall. Chief among the new improvements are several key upgrades: a form of clipboard that can cut and paste between PCs, improvements to Sets, dark themes, a better Notepad, and more.

Microsoft shipped the brand new features included in Insider Preview Build 17666, which is rolling out for the Fast Ring of Windows 10 Insider machines today. (The 2 different Insider tracks, Fast and Skip Ahead, will receive the same build.)

Cloud Clipboard

A year ago, there were numerous, though cumbersome ways to transfer personal files from one PC to another: email, chat, saving it towards the cloud, a USB stick, and so forth. Now, Windows will save text and files towards the cloud, so that you can cut in one tool and paste into another (that you're signed into).

This new Clipboard feature, informally named "Cloud Clipboard," does require a Microsoft account, as well as your permission in order to save the data within Microsoft. There's a limit, too: You'll simply be in a position to cut and paste text less than 100K in size. That's not much. But for a URL or a text snippet, Cloud Clipboard actually is better to use than the Near Share feature inside the April 2018 Update, though it's a bit more limited, too.

Cut-and-paste adds a brand new twist: Microsoft stores a history of your pastes. Typing Win+V brings in the new Clipboard history experience, where you can actually pin frequently-pasted items. Note that the Clipboard history also roams across PCs, if you choose to enable it.

Sets and Edge

One thing Microsoft talked about at Build was a potential change in the behaviour of Sets. Currently, within Sets, typing Alt+Tab flips back and forth between apps. But within Sets' tabbed UI, everything-a webpage, an app, a document-gets its own tab. After flipping backwards and forwards from a specific Word document, along with a specific Outlook email, lumping a dozen or so Edge tabs under a general icon looks a bit weird.

Should you agree, you'll gladly realize that individual Edge tabs now receive the same weight being an Office document, Mail, Outlook, or any other apps-you'll have the ability to Alt+Tab between Edge tabs, quite simply. It's optional, so if you such as the old way you can stick to it.

With the new build, Sets also accumulates more Edge-like capabilities. Individual Sets tabs can be muted, like Edge, and you can specify whether you'd prefer new windows to open in the Sets tabbed environment, or within traditional windows.

Fluent Design, Microsoft's new design elements, also make an appearance.

Search previews get smarter

You may have realized that the Cortana search engine allows you to look for apps as well as documents. With the new build, you'll have the ability to search for an application, like PowerPoint, and Windows will even show you related PowerPoint documents.

In certain cases, searching for the app will trigger a submenu with additional options, like the opening a URL or perhaps a file in your browser. Microsoft said looking window will now open wider to allow a broader selection of happy to display.

Notepad adds line breaks of all stripes

Remember the cheers that accompanied the Build keynote announcement that Notepad would soon incorporate Linux line breaks? Developers can cheer again, as those line breaks have arrvied. But it's not just Linux: Macintosh line endings (CR) happen to be added as well.

Notepad has also become searchable via Bing. All you need to do is highlight a thing or phrase, and right-click. With Sets, a brand new tab search page will open.

Other improvements

Two smaller improvements happen to be added to build 17666: the opportunity to group, and name, apps together inside a Start menu folder...

...as well as a popular request, a dark theme for that File Explorer.