Microsoft has been teasing and testing a brand new news feed for the taskbar, and now you can download it on the Release branch today via Windows update. However, whether or not you can use the feed depends on if Microsoft has deemed you worthy of it yet.
Why Can Only Some People See the Windows 10 News Feed?
Windows Latest reported that the new news feed in Windows 10 has finally arrived on the main branch. If you download the KB5001391 update, you'll have the feed on your PC.
The thing is, you may not see the feed after a restart. This issue is confusing some users who see the feature in the patch notes, download the update, then return to a barren taskbar.
Microsoft hasn't confirmed the reason as to why the feature isn't making itself known to some users. However, there's an excellent chance that this update is simply Microsoft updating its software using the tactics it knows best.
When Microsoft rolls out an update, it'll sometimes only enable the features for a few users. After these users give the feature a try and confirm that it works well, Microsoft then begins slowly enabling the feature on more PCs.
In a way, you can imagine everyone's PC downloading the news feed in the new update, but there's a switch on it set to "off." The data for the feed is on your PC, but Microsoft hasn't toggled it on yet.
Then, Microsoft begins flipping this switch from off to on for a few PCs. If the feature works well, they can continue flipping the switch for more computers until it reaches yours. If the feature causes issues, Microsoft can switch it off again until it's fixed.
We previously saw Microsoft use this strategy in early 2021. Microsoft began rolling out updates for its remote work service, Teams. However, some users got some features before others due to the method as described above.
As such, if you download the KB5001391 update, don't be surprised if you don't see the news feed on your taskbar rightaway. You may need to wait for a little while before Microsoft rolls it out to your PC.
Bringing the Good News, One PC at a Time
The Windows 10 taskbar news feed looks to be a promising feature, and now it's available to a handful of the general public. If you update your PC and don't see it rightaway, give it some time to arrive on your machine.
There's plenty of good reasons to ensure your Windows 10 PC is checking for updates. In fact, there's a bundle of essential bug fixes and stability tweaks coming up in the big "May 2021" update.
Image Credit: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.com