The latest version of Windows 10 comes with a number of fixes and some new features. One of the new features that is not enabled by default and is not even mentioned is the new style Immersive Search UI. From the looks and function, this new Search UI appears to have been borrowed from the Mac OS. After you enable this new search feature, it shows a search bar in near the top of the desktop and you can use it to search both the local files, local documents and the internet.
This new feature was discovered by an Italian blogger at http://www.aggiornamentilumia.it who has since removed the post for some reason. But before the removal the news of the discovery and the instructions of enabling the new search feature had already spread all over the internet.
Here is how you can enable this new Search UI in Windows 10 build 17040:
- Open Registry Editor by pressing Win+R, typing regedit and pressing Enter.
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search\Flighting.
- Under the key Flighting create a new sub-key named Override.
- Under Override create a new DWORD-32 bit value named Immersion.
- Change the value of Immersion from 0 to 1.
- Restart Windows.
After Windows restarts, you can access the search box using the shortcut Win+S. You can search for files, videos, audio, pictures, documents etc. The online search is done using the Bing search engine as expected. The search results can be filtered though a number of filters like All, Web, Documents, and Settings. Users can search for files, pictures, videos, music, settings, and apps. If you click on any of these search results, they are opened in the Edge web browser. The search box is floating on the desktop and you can drag it to any convenient place on the Desktop of your choice.