It has been a little while since there was a PowerToys update, but Microsoft has today rectified this with the release of version 0.33.1 of the suite of Windows 10 utilities.
There are a number of notable changes in this particular release, including improvements to plugins in PowerToys Run, and the editor UX in FancyZones. PowerToys v0.33.1 also features a new ‘First time load’ experience which serves to introduce new users to what is available in the software.
The primary aims for the v0.33 release cycle was the addition of “some critical new functionality into the new user experience as well as a plug-in manager for PowerToys Run”. Both of these goals have been achieved with this release.
Microsoft says that it is aiming to release an experimental build of PowerToys v0.34 complete with the video Conference Mute utility at some point next week. For now, however, the full changelog for PowerToys v0.33.1 looks like this:
General
- Updated overview links to be language agnostic to the docs site.
- ‘First time load’ experience. The hope is a quick, light way to learn about basic functionality. We have some more work to do and want to also use the same framework for teaching about updates as well.
- Localization corrections
FancyZones
- Adjusted editor UX based on feedback. Thanks @niels9001!
- New options to change zone activation algorithm.
File Explorer
- Improved how SVG images are previewed in the preview pane, thanks@Drakula44!
- @Aaron-Junker has created a proof of concept for using Monaco editor for previewing dev files. This will enable over 125+ file types.
PowerToys Run
- Plugin Manager now is in settings. You can directly turn on / off, include items in general search, and change the action key! Thanks @htcfreek for the great feedback!
- Improved support for additional window managers by abstracting out shell process calls. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
- Fix for PT Run registering the hotkey on non-supported OS versions.
- ~ will now act as the user home directory in Folder plugin. Thanks @davidegiacometti
- Service plugin has adjusted status messages
Video Conference Mute (Experimental)
- Adjust video muting to leverage DirectShow.
- Goal is to have 0.34 experimental release week of March 8th.
Settings
- When restarting as admin, the settings now will reopen. Thanks @davidegiacometti!
ARM64 Progress
- Investigation on how we’ll accomplish Settings with the XAML Island and WPF app.
PowerToys v0.33.1 is available to download here.
