Microsoft to Windows 10 users: Call, tell us what you think of Alt+Tab shortcut

Microsoft is asking its Windows 10 general users and preview testers, aka Windows Insiders, to book in a 10-minute chat with Microsoft developers to discuss the app-switching shortcut Alt+Tab. 

The company is sending notifications to Windows 10 users requesting help with research about the shortcut with a link to a page detailing Microsoft's user-experience (UX) research. 

"Talk to engineers live about how you use Alt+Tab to switch apps," Microsoft says. The calls are taking place today, 12 March between 9:30am and 11:30am Pacific Standard Time.  

The research is being carried out by Microsoft product teams who want to "unlock the power of user feedback to create products that delight our customers".

It's not clear exactly what Microsoft's product teams want to know about the Alt+Tab app-switch shortcut. 

The Alt+Tab shortcut for moving between apps has been a mainstay of Windows for years, but in Windows 10 version 1809 the Alt+Tab key sequence could also be used with Sets to switch between groups of tabs.

SEE: 20 pro tips to make Windows 10 work the way you want (free PDF)

Sets is a new windows-management feature that lets users group apps, websites, and other information into tabs, so there's a chance this could be part of the conversation.. 

The information page doesn't reveal what Microsoft product managers are interested in. However, as noted by MSPoweruser, Jen Gentleman, a software engineer at Microsoft, the company did conduct similar user research for the light theme it's been testing in Windows 10 19H1 branch previews. 

"This is something that's being piloted right now — basically exploring giving engineers an opportunity to talk real time with customers about their features. I'm not involved with this one (for Alt+Tab), although I helped answer some of the calls for the light theme one we did a month or so ago," Gentleman said in a Reddit post. 

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