Amidst my excitement about Restore Point controls in Settings in the latest Beta build yesterday, I missed some other cool new capabilities. Indeed, the Build 26220.8062 OOBE grants new naming tools to installers. As you can see in the lead-in graphic, that means setup now includes a “Name your device” pane with input fields for:

• Device name: installer can specify device name, instead of the prior MS penchant for long, auto-generated machine names
• User folder name: installer can specify the base account’s folder name (previously, up to the first five characters in the base MSA)

Good Thing 26220.8062 OOBE Grants New Naming Tools

In the past, one of my typical post-install tasks would be to replace the auto-generated machine name with something more informative. For desktops, these would be DESKTOP-XXXXXX, or for laptops LAPTOP-XXXXXXX, with a mix of 7 alphanumerics (e.g. DESKTOP-UU1KCDG or LAPTOP-AB12CDE). I usually go with something shorter and more descriptive (e.g. Flo6, P16, X380, etc.).

Also, I’ve generally shied away from attempts to rename an account’s user directory because of the number of steps and amount of work involved. (See this ElevenForum.com tutorial to see what I mean.) Of this task Copilot opines:

You can rename the user profile folder, but it’s advanced and risky — follow a tested tutorial step‑by‑step and back up first.

And, FWIW, it too recommends that very same tutorial as the best step-by-step guide to this somewhat tortuous task. Nice that MS has finally made all that effort unnecessary. I’ll be glad when it makes its way from this Insider Preview into more general distribution.

Here in Windows-World, the little things sometimes count (and take more time and effort) than they otherwise might. Kudos to MS for adding these controls; shame on them for not doing it 20 years ago.