D-Link AC3200 Ultra Wi-Fi Router

Sharing Wi-Fi network access in Windows 10 is now slightly more difficult thanks to the removal of the Wi-Fi Sense feature, which Microsoft announced this week.

Wi-Fi Sense allowed Windows users to share networks with contacts and to be automatically connected to networks that others shared with them. Once they signed into their Microsoft account, users could connect to networks shared by Facebook, Outlook.com, or Skype contacts. Enabling Wi-Fi Sense could also connect the Windows device to crowdsourced Wi-Fi networks automatically, presenting a potential privacy and security risk.

But as Geek.com points out, the risk could be easily mitigated. Passwords themselves weren't transmitted, and network administrators could add "_optout" to their SSIDs to prevent Wi-Fi Sense from automatically connecting.

The problem was that few people bothered to turn the feature on (the sharing function was disabled by default). Microsoft said it is discontinuing Wi-Fi Sense because "the cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment." The crowdsourced networks part of Wi-Fi Sense—public hotspots and the like—will continue to operate.

The removal of Wi-Fi Sense was coupled with a larger feature list announced in a new build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview program. New features mostly concern the Edge browser, such as expanding the swipe gesture to navigate back and forward to PCs and new Edge add-ons, including AdBlock.

Edge will also be able to redirect users to an app when they open certain websites, a feature that's been a mainstay of mobile operating systems like iOS.