Windows 10’s clever app tabs won’t ship with the next update

Microsoft isn’t planning to ship its tabbed app feature, dubbed Sets, with the next major Windows 10 update later this year. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company is aiming to tweak and improve the tabs integration in apps like Edge and Microsoft Office before they’re broadly available in Windows 10. Windows Insiders have been able to test the Sets feature over the past six months, providing feedback on the changes.

That feedback has led Microsoft to remove Sets from its latest Windows 10 test build, 17704, which is being released today. Sets will return for insiders once Microsoft starts testing its next major Windows 10 update sometime in the coming months. “Some of the things we’re focusing on include improvements to the visual design and continuing to better integrate Office and Microsoft Edge into Sets to enhance workflow,” explains Microsoft’s Dona Sarkar.

It’s easy to label this as a “delay,” but Microsoft was careful not to promise Sets for its next Windows 10 update. The software maker didn’t commit to a specific timeline for tabs, and it’s clear the company is willing to wait and refine the experience than ship something regardless.

Sets are designed to group similar apps and tasks into an activity set that can sync with Windows 10’s Timeline feature and even across multiple devices in future. The clever tabs are designed to bridge the gap between websites and apps. Windows 10 users will now be disappointed to learn they’re going to have to wait a little longer on tabs support in File Explorer.