What you need to know
- Microsoft News Bar is a new app available from the Microsoft Store.
- The app adds a news ticker directly to your desktop with links to the latest headlines.
- Microsoft News Bar is available in beta now for anyone to test.
Microsoft launched a new app for newshounds on the Microsoft Store today, dubbed Microsoft News Bar. The app is essentially a persistent news ticker for your desktop, serving up the latest headlines as they happen. There's also a fair bit of customization to get the right fit for your desktop setup.
On launch, News Bar takes up a portion of the right side of your screen with a list of images for each news story. Hovering over each image will give you a preview of the story's headline and a bit of text. If you see something you want to read further, you can click through to open the full story in your browser.
Microsoft's News Bar (beta) is an interesting idea. Could also be an anxiety bar for some 😂
Seems like a throwback to the Vista widgets days. Doesn't make sense for laptops really (though it works), but desktops and multi-monitor setups? Sure. pic.twitter.com/d3MdoZR4uqMicrosoft's News Bar (beta) is an interesting idea. Could also be an anxiety bar for some 😂
Seems like a throwback to the Vista widgets days. Doesn't make sense for laptops really (though it works), but desktops and multi-monitor setups? Sure. pic.twitter.com/d3MdoZR4uq— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) March 30, 2020March 30, 2020
However, if the default setup isn't for you, you can customize things a bit further. If you'd rathe see the headlines at a glance, there's an option to have them overlaid on top of the images. You can also reposition the bar on to be on the left side, top, or bottom of your screen.
When placed at the top of bottom of your desktop, News Bar switching to a scrolling bar of headlines without images. If you still want images, however, you can turn them back on through the app's settings. Finally, the whole thing can be minimized when you want a break from the constant stream of stories.
It's an intriguing concept for an app, and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft expands on the idea throughout the beta. If you want to give the app a shot, you can download the News Bar beta now from the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft News Bar brings all of the latest headlines directly to your desktop with a streaming news ticker.
