Exploring the Windows 10 Settings menu {microsoft}

Sarah Jacobsson Purewal/CNET

Open up the Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview (Build 10130), and you'll probably notice something new on the new hybrid Start menu/screen: Three permanent links - Settings, Documentsand Power.
Wait a minute -- Settings?
Click Settings, and the new Windows 10 Settings menu will open in a new window. It's clean, with big, touch-friendly icons and simple descriptions, and it looks similar to the PC settings menu in Windows 8. But while the PC settings menu was hidden in the Charms bar (Charms > Settings > Change PC settings), this new Settings menu is right there on the Start menu.


I'd say that the new Settings menu is where you'll go to change your PC's settings, but that's not entirely true. The Control Panel, which is hidden away as usual, is still a hub for most of your PC's settings -- even settings that appear on the Settings menu. Earlier this year, it looked like Microsoft was perhaps trying to get rid of the Control Panel altogether (they did remove Windows Update from the Control Panel in an earlier build, and put it in the new Settings menu -- and it's still there). But Build 10130 is going to be one of the last builds before Windows 10 comes out on July 29, and the Control Panel still houses a lot of important settings.
The new Settings menu is useful: it brings most of your PC's basic settings out of the Control Panel, so users who aren't comfortable digging around in the Device Manager can see their connected hardware and adjust their Internet settings. The Settings menu also adds a few settings that never existed in the Control Panel to begin with -- namely, privacy options geared toward tablet and phone users.

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Here's a deeper look at each of the sections in the new Settings menu:
The System tab
The Devices tab
The Network & Internet tab
The Personalization tab
The Accounts tab
The Time & language tab
The Ease of Access tab
The Privacy tab
The Update & recovery tab