Microsoft is making Windows 10's Timeline feature far less useful
With the release of the latest insider preview of Windows 10, Microsoft has made a key change to the way the Timeline feature works. The idea behind Timeline was to not only provide a web browser-style history option for general computing activities, but to synchronize this history across devices via the cloud.
Now Microsoft has decided that the cross-device synchronization side of things is not needed, and the company is getting rid of what was arguably the most useful feature of Timeline. While currently only deprecated in the Windows 10 Build 21359 preview, this is a change that will ultimately roll out to all Windows 10 users.
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Timeline has been a feature of Windows 10 for a few years now, giving users the ability to check back over their computing history, and jump back into whatever tasks they were working on -- regardless of which device they happened to be working on. The latest changes means that while Timeline is not being removed completely, it has been crippled in a way that will leave fans of the feature unhappy.
In a blog post about the latest build of Windows 10 and the changes it includes, Microsoft notes:
If you have your activity history synced across your devices through your Microsoft account (MSA), you will no longer have the option to upload new activity in Timeline. AAD-connected accounts won't be impacted. To view web history, Edge and other browsers have the option to look back at recent web activities. You can also view recently used files using OneDrive and Office. Note: Timeline and all your local activity history still remain on Windows 10.
The change is due to roll out to all Windows 10 users in June, so make the most of cloud synchronization of Timeline activity until then.
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