Microsoft has abandoned tabbed 'sets' for Windows 10

If you were looking forward to Sets for Windows 10, which takes the concept of tabs from web browsers and applies it to any type of program, there's bad news: the feature, which we were hoping to see in the next major update, has been canned.

The feature, which has been available briefly to beta testers taking part in the Windows Insider Program, allowed different programs to run within the same window, making it easier to switch between Microsoft Word and a web browser when writing a report, for example, or flick between Excel and PowerPoint when making a presentation.

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It was hoped that Sets would make their primetime debut in the forthcoming Windows 10 May 2019 Update, but Windows developer Rich Turner broke the bad news on Twitter after a user enquired about the feature's whereabouts.

Turner specializes in development for the Windows command line, and says implementing tabs there is a priority, but there's no indication of whether the same is true elsewhere.

Setback

Sets was looking like a complex, but very handy feature, and Microsoft explained its potential in great detail at last year's Build developer conference.

The concept was that "content that belongs together stays together", so for example, if you click a web link in a PDF, the link would open in a tab attached to the PDF reader rather than opening a whole new window.

Better yet, Windows 10 would 'remember' which tabs you had open last time you used a program, and offer to restore them for you – even transferring them between machines using your Microsoft account.

It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft unveils at this year's Build conference, and how many new features will appear when the May 2019 Update starts rolling out in a few weeks' time.

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from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-has-abandoned-tabbed-sets-for-windows-10