Recently, after years of focusing solely on Windows 11, Microsoft changed its mind and started adding new features to Windows 10, an old, yet still supported operating system. One of the first additions was the redesigned weather widget on the lock screen. Now, the company is pushing even more widgets for Windows 10 users.
The latest Windows 10 build from the Release Preview Channel contains a hidden feature ID, which, when turned on, adds more widgets alongside the weather forecast, making it look more like an MSN home page. The new widgets include traffic, sports, stocks, and other stuff you can find in the News & Interests flyout. Each widget has a "See more" link, which, naturally, opens the MSN website.
Besides adding more widgets, build 19045.4235 adds blur to the widgets" background and changes the default font to make everything look more on par with the rest of the user interface.
Microsoft has not announced the update lock screen for Windows 10 yet, so the exact details remain unknown. However, if you run the latest Windows 10 Release Preview build (KB5035941, 19045.4235), you can try the new widgets without waiting for an official announcement. All you need is the ViVeTool app and a feature ID generously provided by @PhantomOfEarth:
- Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
- Run Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
- Type vivetool /enable /id:48801541 and press Enter.
- Restart your computer and load the News & Interests flyout. After that, you can lock your system and check out its new widgets.
Sadly, the current implementation does not allow selecting what widgets appear on the lock screen. You can have either everything or none, which is indicated by the "Weather and More" option in the lock screen settings section.