Looking for the Charms Bar in the Windows 10 Technical Preview? It’s there. You just may not know it. The Charms Bar was one of the biggest annoyances for Windows 8 users, beyond the overall modern look and feel of the OS, but not anymore.
While the Charms Bar functionality has been disabled in the way you knew it, it’s still there with the handy keyboard shortcut we grew to use. Let’s look at the Charms Bar in Windows 10 and what it can still do for users.
Windows 10 Charms Bar
You have to remember that Windows 10 is what Microsoft thinks are the best features in Windows 7 and 8 combined. This does include some features that users may not think are necessarily the best, like the Charms Bar.
The purpose of the Charms Bar was to make it easy for consumers to quickly search, share, and change settings when necessary. Whether you’re working with a Windows Store app or desktop app, or anything in between, you can get to where you need to go next seamlessly.
If your hover towards the right side of your screen, or the corners, you won’t be able to access the Charms Bar in Windows 10.
However, if you use the WIN + C keyboard shortcut, it’ll open just like it always did in Windows 8 and 8.1.
There’s no real changes to the Charms Bar except how it opens in Windows 10.
You’ll notice the familiar menu options upon opening it.
You then get the same menu and options when you dig deep into it.
One of the biggest perks, intentional or not, to the Charms Bar appears to be the search feature. The search feature in Windows 8 was buggy to begin with, slow at times, and ignoring options at other times. Now, it appears at least in this build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, that it’s speedier and more efficient than ever.
Is the search in the Charms Bar now using the engine powering search in Windows 10? We think so, and we hope so, because if so, this is a welcome improvement and fix for users.
Conclusion
How many Windows 10 users will actually take advantage of the Charms Bar once it hits the market? Probably not many, which is a shame in some ways.
When you’re looking at sheer multitasking power and efficiency, utilizing the Charms Bar, keyboard shortcuts, and the new Start Menu in Windows 10 could be a powerhouse way to stay on top of just about anything you’re doing on your PC, especially now that the annoying features of the Charms Bar have fallen to the wayside.
