What do you primarily use your PC for? It's a more important question than you might think, because different use cases for your PC require it to be configured in different ways to optimize your user experience. Until now, that's something that each individual user has attended to, making tweaks as necessary to the core Windows setup to make the machine work better. It is all based on how each person uses their machine.
Microsoft wants to start changing that in a bid further enhance user experience. To that end, the company is adding a "customize your device" screen to the Windows setup routine. If you select one of the categories Microsoft has defined, the setup routine will automatically make tweaks and adjustments behind the scenes, leaving you with less to do to optimize your rig.
The following information is based on a recent screen shared by the company's "Windows Insiders" group.
The predefined categories are:
- Gaming
- Family
- Creativity
- Schoolwork
- Entertainment
- Business
These are generally good options, and it's easy to see how the company could feather in the automatic installation of any number of apps, based on the selection made. Notably absent from the list, however, is a "Developer" option. Sorry developers, you're on your own. Although once we know more about what each of these options is and does, it may be the case that the "Business" option covers the needs of developers reasonably well, too.
Overall, it's a good addition, available to a select group of Windows Insiders right now, in build 20231. Based on their feedback, it will be rolled out to the general public in the months ahead.
Kudos to Microsoft for putting user experience front and center with the change. The company hasn't always been perfect in that regard, but it's clear that they're trying hard to reform, and there's something to be said for that.