Windows 10 Build 9926: Continuum Makes an Appearance as Tablet Mode

Announced last year, demoed in more detail during its Windows 10 event last week, and delivered in infancy in the recent Windows 10 Build 9925, Continuum is Microsoft's way of serving two masters: desktop users and tablet users.

Continuum in the future will provide an intelligent way for Windows 10 to understand the operating mode required by the user. In a world of touch, non-touch, and hybrid devices, an operating system that only caters to a single preference doesn’t make sense any longer. Today, though, Continuum is little more than a simple software switch that forces apps and OS components into full screen when enacted.

Like most Microsoft technologies, Continuum is just a codename. The actual name of the technology being presented in Windows 10 Build 9926 is "Tablet Mode."

Tablet Mode can be chosen manually and the setting adjustment can be quickly accessed using the new Notifications Center.

As I noted in a recent article, the new Notifications Center is accessible by either tapping or clicking the small System Tray icon, or by swiping from the right-side of the screen (for touch devices). Here you can quickly turn Tablet Mode on or off. Its also available in the primary Settings app, i.e., the Control Panel replacement.

Also, included in Windows 10 Build 9926, when using a device Windows 10 recognizes as an actual tablet, it will ask you if you'd like to switch to Tablet Mode when it detects work style changes.

For example, when I remove the Type keyboard on my Surface Pro 3, Windows 10 asks me if I'd like to switch to Tablet Mode. When I agree, all app and Windows component windows always open in full screen mode to make it easier for me to use my finger to navigate around. If you're an avid Surface tablet user, and have become accustomed with the Windows 8.1 way of doing things, this definitely helps with the transition to Windows 10.

Sadly, the prompt to enter tablet mode doesn't work all the time, even for Surface devices, and as Microsoft has stated that there's a long list of devices it won't work with until hardware manufacturers add the capability. It has a long way to go yet, but, Continuum is definitely coming along and Windows 10 has a few months left to come together completely.