It seems as though Microsoft hides its ugly-but-entirely-useful Control Panel just a little bit deeper in every new iteration of Windows. In Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview Build 10130, you can change most -- but not all -- of your PC's settings in the new Setting menu, which you can access from the new Start menu as an app.
Compared to Windows 8.1, Windows 10's Settings menu is a more robust, more Control Panel-like version of the Settings charm. In the new Settings menu, you'll find some familiar prompts: System, Devices, Network & Internet, Personalization, Accounts, Time & language, Ease of Access, Privacy, and Update & recovery.
Let's take a look at the System tab, which is where you'll be able to do a lot -- but again, not all -- of your system setup:
The first thing I always look for in a System tab is the actual system info, which you can find by clicking About. Here you'll see your PC's basic specs, including processor, memory and operating system info, as well as what edition of Windows you're running. You can also quickly rename your PC by clicking Rename PC, or join a network by clicking Join a domain or Join Azure AD (the latter lets you join a cloud network run by your company or school).
New for Build 10130 is the Related settings section -- here, you'll find a list of settings you might have been looking for when you initially clicked on About. These links take you to Control Panel windows, so perhaps Microsoft isn't scrapping the Control Panel completely.
You can check your PC's storage space by clicking Storage, which shows you your different drives (including partitions and external hard drives), and also lets you choose default save locations for different file types ("apps and games," "documents," "music," "pictures" and "videos"). Apps and games will always need to be saved to your PC, but other file types can be saved to external drives by default.
If you need to free up space, click Apps & features, which will show you a list of installed apps sorted by size (you can also sort them by name and install date). Click on a non-native app and you'll see two options: Move and Uninstall. Click Move to move the app to a different drive or partition; click Uninstall to uninstall it.
System is also where you'll go to set up some of your basic PC options, including changing (some) display settings, changing (some) power options, choosing default apps for different file types and protocols, and switching between tablet mode and PC mode. In the Tablet Mode section, you can turn tablet mode on and off with the flick of a switch and choose how your computer handles sign-ins (either sign-in directly to tablet mode, directly to PC mode, or sign-in to the mode you were in when you shut down your system).
To set up the new Windows 10 Notifications center, click Notifications & actions, where you'll be able to select which icons appear on the taskbar and toggle different app notifications on and off. You can go into an Advanced menu for most of the notification-capable apps, but all you'll really see here is a toggle for turning notifications banners on and off.
Clicking Display takes you to a limited display menu that's slightly more robust than Windows 8.1's display menu, and similar to Windows 7's Screen Resolution menu. Here you can change the zoom (enlarge text, icons and other items), orientation, resolution and turn automatic brightness adjustment on and off.
You can't change your desktop wallpaper, though -- that's in the Personalization menu. The Power options menu is also extremely limited, with options for choosing when your computer sleeps and when the screen turns off, but no link to more advanced settings (such as different power plans/profiles).
In previous builds of Windows 10, the System tab included a section for Cortana's settings. In Build 10130, there's no longer a Cortana section; to change Cortana's settings, you'll have to go directly to Cortana (click the search icon on your taskbar) and adjust the settings there.
The System menu is getting to be a pretty good hub for general PC action, but for more advanced tweaks and settings, you'll still need to dive into the Control Panel. Microsoft does include a few related links in its menu, though, so getting to the Control Panel and finding a specific advanced setting is much easier than it was in earlier builds.
Editor's note: This How To post was originally published on January 26 and was updated on June 2 to reflect new information regarding Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview Build 10130.
