May 12

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17666 – The cool features update!

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Thursday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17666 (RS5) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring in addition to those who opted in to Skip Ahead.

This build is loaded with cool new features some of which we’ve been waiting for a while now

Grab your copy to have an early test of the new clipboard with previous-version access & cross device copy / paste, screen clipping in the new style with easy editing & annotating.

Previews with search in start are awesome to use!

What’s new in Build 17666

The next wave of Sets improvements is here!

We’ve been steadily going through your feedback, and this build contains a number of improvements based on what you’ve been telling us:

  • Bring on the acrylic! We love Fluent Design as much as you do – in today’s build you’ll find that Sets now have an acrylic title bar. We’re also adjusting the window border so that it’s now grey.

Notepad and Microsoft Edge together in Sets with a transparent title bar.

  • Recent Microsoft Edge tabs now show in Alt + Tab: Do you use Alt + Tab to quickly switch back and forth between apps? All of your recent Microsoft Edge tabs will now be included, not just the active one. Prefer it the old way? Use the “Pressing Alt + Tab shows the recently used…” setting in Multitasking Settings.
  • Should apps and websites open in a new window or a new tab? It’s up to you! The Sets section of Multitasking Settings now lets you set your windowing preference. If you choose “Window”, new windows won’t open into a new tab unless you explicitly click the + or drag with your mouse. Choosing “Tab” opens any new windows invoked from your running apps into tabs. As a reminder, if you would like to exclude any particular app from Sets, you can do this from this same settings page.
  • Want to mute one of your web tabs? You can now do that! When a webpage in Sets starts playing audio, you’ll now see a volume icon on the tab. Simply click it and the audio will mute, just like in Microsoft Edge.
  • Tabs will now restore with better performance – they’ll open in the background and use no resources until you go to the tab. This means you can restore a lot of tabs at once with no issues.

We’ve also made other fixes, changes, and improvements to Sets, including:

  • Task Manager has now been added by default to the list of apps where not to enable Sets.
  • We fixed an issue where right clicking a tab in the Sets title bar didn’t bring up a context menu.
  • We fixed an issue where if Microsoft Edge wasn’t already open, clicking the plus button in Sets would open all of your default websites along with the new tab page.

As always, thanks again for the great feedback – keep it coming! This link will take you to the Sets section of the Feedback Hub.

Say hello to your new clipboard experience!

Copy paste – it’s something we all do, probably multiple times a day. But what do you do if you need to copy the same few things again and again? How do you copy content across your devices? Today we’re addressing that and taking the clipboard to the next level – simply press WIN+V and you’ll be presented with our brand-new clipboard experience!

Showing the new clipboard UI. 4 entries listed in the history.

Not only can you can paste from the clipboard history, but you can also pin the items you find yourself using all the time. This history is roamed using the same technology which powers Timeline and Sets, which means you can access your clipboard across any PC with this build of Windows or higher.

Our new settings page for enabling this experience is under Settings > System > Clipboard – please try this out and share feedback! This link will open the Feedback Hub to where you can tell us about your experience and what you’d like to see next.

Showing Clipboard Settings – has toggles for saving multiple items and sync across devices.

Note: Roamed text on the clipboard is only supported for clipboard content less than 100kb. Currently, the clipboard history supports plain text, HTML and image less than 1MB.

Dark theme comes to File Explorer (and more!)

As many of you know, we added dark theme support to Windows based on your feedback. This setting is available under Settings > Personalization > Colors, and if you switch it any apps and system UI that support it will follow suit. Since releasing this feature, our top feedback request from you has been to update File Explorer to support dark theme, and with today’s build it’s happening! Along the way, we also added dark theme support to the File Explorer context menu, as well as the Common File Dialog (aka the Open and Save dialogs). Thanks again for everyone’s feedback!

This screenshot below is from the very latest code and not what’s in the flight. When you install this build, you will see some unexpected light colors in File Explorer and the Common File Dialog. This is something we’re aware of and are working to address.

File Explorer in dark theme.

Introducing extended line endings support for Notepad

Announced at Microsoft Build 2018, we’re excited to let you know that in addition to Windows line endings (CRLF), with today’s build Notepad now supports Unix/Linux line endings (LF) and Macintosh line endings (CR)!

Showing a Unix-style text file displaying properly now that Unix-style line endings are supported in Notepad.

For more details, check out the command line blog.

Notepad Search with Bing

To use simply highlight any words or phrase in Notepad and you can search Bing using the following methods:

  • Right click on the selected text and choose “Search with Bing” via the right-click (context) menu.
  • Edit menu ->”Search with Bing…”
  • CTRL + B.

With Sets, a new tab will open that will include the Bing search results page:

Right click on the selected text and choose “Search with Bing” via the right-click (context) menu.

Save time with Search Previews!

It’s been great seeing your positive feedback for the web preview we added last year and developments we’ve made to it since then. Now we have expanded previews to support apps, documents, and more. Search previews are here to help you:

  • Get back to what you were doing, such as a recent Word doc or Remote Desktop session
  • Jump-start your task, be it a new Outlook meeting, a quick comment in OneNote, or changing a setting
  • Disambiguate between files by seeing more info including file location, last modified, or author
  • Access quick answers from the web like “are bananas good for you?” “height of mt everest”

We made the Search experience wider so you can access information and actions in the preview faster than ever. The previews will be updated and improved over time, as we develop and add more features. Stay tuned!

Three examples of different previews side by side. PowerPoint, a Word doc, and a Bing search.

Start tile folder naming

You may have noticed the theme of feedback throughout today’s flight, and this announcement is no different. We understand that customizing your Windows experience is important to you – today we’re adding the ability to name your tile folders! To create a tile folder in Start, just drag one tile on top of another for a second then release. Continue dropping as many tiles into the folder as you’d like. When you expand the folder, you’ll see a new option to name it. The name will be visible when the folder is medium, wide, or large-sized. We appreciate everyone’s feedback requesting this!

Showing a named folder in Start.

Have a question about Settings?

We’ve heard your feedback that settings can be confusing sometimes, so we’re working with Bing to bubble up some of the most common questions we hear right into the Settings pages themselves. The FAQ’s are contextual in nature and aim to you to quickly get the answer you’re looking for to complete configuration tasks. It may even help you discover something you didn’t know was an option! Clicking on these questions will take you to Bing.com to display the answer.

Picture of Recovery Settings, now with “Have a question?” including the questions “How to create a Windows 10 USB recover drive”, “How to use System Restore on Windows 10”, “What are the system recover options in Windows.

NOTE: Currently this experience is supported in all en* markets (en-us, en-gb, en-ca, en-in, en-au).

Your phone and computer have made a new connection

From this week’s Build keynotes and Joe Belfiore’s blogpost on Microsoft 365, you may have seen what we’ve got instore for you in a future Insider Preview build release. There’s a new way to connect your phone to your PC with Windows 10 that enables instant access to text messages, photos, and notifications. Imagine being able to quickly drag and drop your phone’s photos into a document on your PC in one swift movement – without having to take your phone out of your pocket. Today, this experience allows you to link your phone to your PC. Surf the web on your phone, then send the webpage instantly to your PC to pick up where you left off to continue what you’re doing–read, watch, or browse with all the benefits of a bigger screen. With a linked phone, continuing on your PC is one share away. We’re working hard to expand these experiences so check back here for updates.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue with dll from the previous flight that could result in explorer.exe crashing every few minutes.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in VPN potentially not working after updating to the previous build.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous build where apps may appear to be missing in secondary accounts after receiving app updates from the PC’s primary account.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight resulting in a bugcheck with the error IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in tcpip.sys.
  • We fixed an issue where a border would be visible when you maximized windows in the last few flights.
  • We’ve updated the design of This PC so that there’s no longer space displayed for the cloud files state icon (which isn’t relevant on this page).
  • The snipping toolbar (with WIN + Shift + S) will now follow your desired theme, light or dark.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the Emoji Panel and the touch keyboard not displaying correctly if invoked immediately after restarting explorer.exe.

Known issues

  • If your PC appears stuck at “Preparing to install…” somewhere between the 80%-100% in Windows Update – please be patient and wait up to 30 minutes (or in some cases – longer than 30 minutes) for this stage to complete.
  • After completing the Windows Mixed Reality First Run experience, OOBE is black. Motion Controllers are also not recognized in exclusive apps. For Insiders who want to keep Windows Mixed Reality working – you might want to consider hitting pause on taking new Insider Preview builds until these issues are fixed. You can pause Insider Preview builds by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program and pressing the “Stop Insider Preview builds” button and choosing “Pause updates for a bit”.
  • On resuming from sleep, the desktop may be momentarily visible before the Lock screen displays as expected.
  • When Movies & TV user denies access to its videos library (through the “Let Movies & TV access your videos library?” popup window or through Windows privacy settings), Movies & TV crashes when the user navigates to the “Personal” tab.
  • We’re aware of an issue that causes Narrator to read extra text when invoking Alt + Tab, and we’re working on a fix.
  • If you complete the setup for a Windows Mixed Reality headset on this build, the headset will remain black until it is unplugged and reconnected to the PC.
  • [ADDED 5/10] If you have room boundary enabled and are experiencing controllers glitching out while playing a SteamVR game, make sure that you have the blue bar at the top of the desktop. Hit Win + y to enable it. This will make sure input is going to Mixed Reality and should fix the issue.

Known issues for Sets & Office

  • Sets UX for Office Win32 desktop apps is not final.  The experience will be refined over time based on feedback.
  • The top of some Win32 desktop app windows may appear slightly underneath the tab bar when created maximized. To work around the issue, restore and re-maximize the window.
  • Closing one tab may sometimes minimize the entire set.
  • Tiling and cascading windows, including features like “View Side by Side” in Word, will not work for inactive tabs.
  • The Office Visual Basic Editor window will currently be tabbed but is not intended to be in the future.
  • Opening an Office document while the same app has an existing document open may cause an unintended switch to the last active document. This will also happen when closing a sheet in Excel while other sheets remain open.
  • Local files or non-Microsoft cloud files will not be automatically restored, and no error message will be provided to alert the user to that fact.

 

source: Windows Blogs

Apr 27

Windows 10 April 2018 Update is here! (April 30th)

Laptop open on a table

 

With Windows 10, we’ve focused on delivering the most modern and most secure operating system. Since its initial launch, we delivered two updates with features designed to enable the creator in each of us. With our latest major release – the Windows 10 April 2018 Update – we want to give you back some of your greatest currency, your time. Our hope is that you’ll have more time to do what matters most to you –  create, play, work or simply do what you love.

Timeline helps you easily find what matters to you across your devices

Focus Assist returns your focus

Microsoft Edge New Features

Voice as a natural input

With the April 2018 Update and Cortana enabled on your Windows 10 PC, you can manage your smart home right from your PC using just your voice. For example, want to come home to a warm house from a long day at work? Just tap Cortana on your PC and say “Hey Cortana, set the living room thermostat to 72 degrees” to control your ecobee, Honeywell, Nest Learning thermostat and more.

Go check for your update available Monday April 30th to discover even more great new features!

Source: Windows Blogs

Apr 23

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17650 for Skip Ahead

 

 

Another release to the skip ahead ring, Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17650 (RS5) , Defender joins the fluent design.

Enjoy updating!

What’s new in Build 17650

Windows Defender Security Center gets a Fluent Design refresh

We’ve heard your feedback and when you install this build you’ll find we’ve updated Windows Defender Security Center (WDSC) to include the Fluent Design elements you know and love. You’ll also notice we’ve adjusted the spacing and padding around the app and will now dynamically size the categories on the main page if more room is needed for extra info. Last but not least, we’ve also updated the title bar of the app so that it will now use your accent color if you’ve enabled that option in Color Settings – with Sets enabled, you will see this color in the WDSC tab.

We’ve updated Windows Defender Security Center (WDSC) to include the Fluent Design elements.

Windows Defender Firewall now supports Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) processes

You can add specific rules for a WSL process in Windows Defender Firewall, just as you would for any Windows process. Also, Windows Defender Firewall now supports notifications for WSL processes. For example, when a Linux tool wants to allow access to a port from the outside (like SSH or a web server like nginx), the Windows Defender Firewall will prompt to allow access just like it would for a Windows process when the port starts accepting connections. This was first introduced in Build 17627.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue where File Explorer would always open with the ribbon minimized, rather than remembering how you’d left it.
  • We fixed an issue where elements on the main page of the Windows Defender Security Center app would slightly change size on mouse hover.
  • We fixed an issue where non-default languages might unexpectedly have the option to remove in Settings greyed out.
  • We fixed an issue where the Color Filters and High Contrast icons were switched in Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where clicking links in Settings that launched other apps would result in Settings crashing and nothing else happening.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some people experiencing a Settings crash when navigating to Apps > Default Apps > Set defaults by App.

Known issues

  • On resuming from sleep, the desktop may be momentarily visible before the Lock screen displays as expected.
  • When Movies & TV user denies access to its videos library (through the “Let Movies & TV access your videos library?” popup window or through Windows privacy settings), Movies & TV crashes when the user navigates to the “Personal” tab.
  • Tiling and cascading windows, including features like “View Side by Side” in Word, will not work for inactive tabs.
  • The Office Visual Basic Editor window will currently be tabbed but is not intended to be in the future.
  • Opening an Office document while the same app has an existing document open may cause an unintended switch to the last active document. This will also happen when closing a sheet in Excel while other sheets remain open.
  • Local files or non-Microsoft cloud files will not be automatically restored and no error message will be provided to alert the user to that fact.
  • Sets UX for Office Win32 desktop apps is not final.  The experience will be refined over time based on feedback.
  • The top of some Win32 desktop app windows may appear slightly underneath the tab bar when created maximized. To work around the issue, restore and re-maximize the window.
  • Closing one tab may sometimes minimize the entire set.
  • We’re aware of an issue that causes Narrator to read extra text when invoking Alt + Tab, and we’re working on a fix.
  • Using arrow and Page Up / Page Down keys doesn’t work to scroll webpages in Microsoft Edge. You’ll need to use another input method (mouse, touch, or touchpad).
  • If you complete the setup for a Windows Mixed Reality headset on this build, the headset will remain black until it is unplugged and reconnected to the PC.

source: Windows Blogs

Apr 17

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17134 for Fast

Yesterday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17134 (RS4) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

This build has no new features and includes the fixes from KB4100375 as well as some fixes for general reliability of the OS. As Build 17133 progressed through the rings, we discovered some reliability issues we wanted to fix. In certain cases, these reliability issues could have led to a higher percentage of (BSOD) on PCs for example. Instead of creating a Cumulative Update package to service these issues, we decided to create a new build with the fixes included.

 

source: Windows Blogs

Apr 09

GDPR & Office 365

 

To discover how Microsoft can help ease the transition with relevant Office 365 features, take a look at  this Infographic

 

Mar 19

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17123 for Fast & 17623 for Skip Ahead

Hi All,
Last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17123 (RS4) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring & Build 17623 to the Skip Ahead ring
Make sure you test WDAG this feature rocks!

What’s new in Build 17123

Introducing High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) in Windows 10

The High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) has arrived for Windows 10 and the Photos app! HEIF is an image container that leverages modern codecs like HEVC to improve quality, compression, and capabilities compared to earlier formats like JPEG, GIF, and PNG. In addition to traditional single images, HEIF supports encoding image sequences, image collections, auxiliary images like alpha or depth maps, live images & video, audio, and HDR for greater contrast. We have heard your feedback that these features and the ability to share photos easily with other platforms is important to you. This release we are delivering essential viewing support (You cannot edit HEIF images in this release).

In order to try this out, you need to join the Windows App Preview Program for the Photos app and make sure you are running the March release of the  Photos app (Version 2018.18022.13740.0 or newer). This version of the Photos app has been updated for RS4 to support viewing the primary image inside a HEIF file and to guide the install of dependencies like the HEIF and HEVC media extensions from the Microsoft Store. Once installed, these media extensions enable HEIF viewing in Photos as well as thumbnails and metadata in File Explorer.

Additionally, any application that uses WIC, WinRT Imaging APIs, or the XAML Image control can now add similar support for viewing single HEIF images.

Click here to open Feedback Hub and send us feedback on the HEIF experience with the Photos app and Windows 10.

Windows Mixed Reality

With this build, the Windows Mixed Reality Team would like to let you know about a few known issues as you try out the new Windows Mixed Reality features:

  • We’re investigating reports of a performance regression for Windows Mixed Reality on hybrid laptops on this build.
  • In some cases, the inbox apps will fail to load inside of Windows Mixed Reality and newly placed Holograms may be empty. Restarting Windows Mixed Reality should resolve both issues.
  • Occasionally there may be a long delay and restart of mixed reality when transitioning to a new place (Skyloft or Cliff House).

Since the last build, the following bugs should now be fixed:

  • The ambient sound in Skyloft should now the correct volume.
  • Launching the Store from Movies & TV should no longer crash either app.
  • 360 videos should render correctly inside of the Edge app, and the 360 Viewer can be launched from directly from the Store app.

To give feedback on Windows Mixed Reality, click here to open Feedback Hub.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue from the last flight on PCs with the Dolby Access app installed and expired Dolby Atmos license, where the Windows Audio service (audiosrv) would crash with a stack overflow exception and the PC won’t have sound.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a bug check with the error message SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR in recent flights.
  • As of Build 17063, a change was made that may have caused some older drivers to not load properly. This may have caused update failures or bugchecks (GSODs) shortly after the PC was rebooted. This build includes fixes for this that should prevent these update failures and bugchecks from occurring.
  • Thanks everyone who’s shared feedback about our Embedded Handwriting Panel so far – we’re making a change such that if you clean install, reset your PC, or upgrade straight to this build from the Fall Creators Update this experience will be turned off by default. The setting will remain on for Insiders who have upgraded from previous builds where it was enabled, and can be turned on by anyone with a pen capable device via the “Write directly into text field” option under Pen & Windows Ink Settings.

Known issues

  • If you had your phone linked to your PC prior to upgrading, you’ll find it has become unlinked after upgrading. You can relink your phone from Settings > Phone.

 

What’s new in Build 17623

Introducing High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) in Windows 10

The High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) has arrived for Windows 10 and the Photos app! HEIF is an image container that leverages modern codecs like HEVC to improve quality, compression, and capabilities compared to earlier formats like JPEG, GIF, and PNG. In addition to traditional single images, HEIF supports encoding image sequences, image collections, auxiliary images like alpha or depth maps, live images & video, audio, and HDR for greater contrast. We have heard your feedback that these features and the ability to share photos easily with other platforms is important to you. This release we are delivering essential viewing support (You cannot edit HEIF images in this release).

In order to try this out, you need to join the Windows App Preview Program for the Photos app and make sure you are running the March release of the  Photos app (Version 2018.18022.13740.0 or newer). This version of the Photos app has been updated for RS4 and RS5 to support viewing the primary image inside a HEIF file and to guide the install of dependencies like the HEIF and HEVC media extensions from the Microsoft Store. Once installed, these media extensions enable HEIF viewing in Photos as well as thumbnails and metadata in File Explorer.

Additionally, any application that uses WIC, WinRT Imaging APIs, or the XAML Image control can now add similar support for viewing single HEIF images.

Click here to open Feedback Hub and send us feedback on the HEIF experience with the Photos app and Windows 10.

External GPU Safe Remove Experience

In RS5, we are introducing a safe remove experience for external GPUs connected via Thunderbolt 3. The safe remove experience allows you to know which applications are running on an external GPU so that you can safely remove to prevent data loss during detach.

To safely remove an external graphics card, go to the “Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media” icon and click to eject your GPU. If there are applications running on your external GPU, then a dialog will appear with the applications that are currently running. Close the applications to safely remove the device. If there are no applications currently running on your external graphics device then no dialog will appear and you can safely detach your external GPU.

A new privacy settings layout in the set up experience

This build includes the same changes to the set up experience for privacy settings mentioned last week in RS4 Build 17115. This new design conveys focused information to help our customers make focused choices about their privacy and offers two new settings for Inking & Typing and Find my device. More details about the change can be found in this blog post here.

Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) Improvements

The Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) Team has introduced new improvements for users to have a better experience with our upcoming release. We have combed through our user feedback and acted to ensure your needs are met. On top of significant performance improvements, we have added an ability to download documents highlighted below.

Performance improvements: The teams at Microsoft are constantly working to improve performance for our users. Windows Defender Application Guard is no different. In this upcoming feature update, you will notice an improvement in the launch time for Application Guard. We have made the start process lighter and faster, which will provide our users with a better experience when accessing Microsoft Edge in Windows Defender Application Guard.

Download files to the host: One of the items our users voiced was an inability to “download files from within WDAG” to the host. This created an inconsistent experience for Edge overall as downloaded files were stuck inside the container. In this release, users can turn on a feature to download files from their WDAG browsing session onto the host file system. This feature is available in the Windows 10 Enterprise edition and must be turned on. Once the feature is enabled, users will be able to download files into a folder created in their Downloads folder and open all files on the host.

How to enable and configure the Download to host feature:

Requirements:

  • Latest Windows 10 Enterprise RS4 Builds.
  • Windows Defender Application Guard feature is installed.
  • Network isolation policies are configured.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to Local Group Policy Editor > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender Application Guard.

Group Policy Editor

  1. Select Allow files to download and save to the host operating system from Windows Defender Application Guard
  2. Select Enabled and Apply

Select Allow

After this policy is enabled, you can download files from your Windows Defender Edge session to your Downloads folder. The files from Application Guard will be saved in a folder called “Untrusted files” nested inside the Downloads folder. This folder is created automatically when you first download a file from Application Guard after enabling the policy.

Downloads folder.

Notes:

  • This feature is off by default.
  • Users will need to assess the files they downloaded and assume any risks of opening on the host.

We encourage you to try our new download feature and assess our improved launch performance. Your feedback and suggestion are important to us as we continue to improve our products. You can click here to open Feedback Hub to give feedback on WDAG.

We’ve also made updates to Windows Defender System Guard.  With Windows Defender System Guard, we are making a leap forward in platform security with memory integrity by default and bringing a born secure device promise to our user base.  To learn more about these changes and talk with product team, see their post in the Windows Insider Technical Community.
General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • For Windows Insiders in the Skip Ahead ring, we will begin testing a change where links clicked on within the Windows Mail app will open in Microsoft Edge, which provides the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices. With built-in features for reading, note-taking, Cortana integration, and easy access to services such as SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft Edge enables you to be more productive, organized and creative without sacrificing your battery life or security. As always, we look forward to feedback from our WIP community.
  • We fixed an issue where the Microsoft Store may be completely broken or disappeared altogether after upgrading to this build.
  • We fixed two issues impacting the usability of Windows Mixed Reality on the previous build (Windows Mixed Reality running at a very low frame rate (8-10fps), and a potential crash at startup that could cause Windows Mixed Reality to not work).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to interact with title bars using touch when Sets was enabled.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the touch keyboard crashing when focus was moved to certain password fields.
  • We’ve improved the performance of Bluetooth mice when the system is under load.
  • We fixed an issue from recent flights causing precision touchpads to periodically need a few tries to be able to move the mouse.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the Amharic keyboard not working in Win32 apps.
  • We fixed an issue where EFI and Recovery partitions were unexpectedly listed in Defragment and Optimize Drives.
  • We fixed an issue optimizing drives in Defragment and Optimize Drives didn’t work in the last few flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a permanently black window if you dragged a tab out of a Microsoft Edge window, pulled it up to the top edge of the screen, and moved it back down and released it.
  • We’ve updated the Cortana section in Settings to now be called “Cortana & Search”.
  • We fixed an issue where you couldn’t use touch to interact with the Timeline scrollbar.
  • We fixed an issue where a failed app update could result in that app becoming unpinned from the taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue where if focus was set inside Action Center pressing Esc wouldn’t close the Action Center window.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in ShellExperienceHost periodically waking the device from hibernate if active live tiles were pinned to Start.

Known issues

  • If you open Settings and clicking on any links to the Microsoft Store or links in tips, Settings will crash. This includes the links to get themes and fonts from the Microsoft Store, as well as the link to Windows Defender.
  • If you try to open a file that is available online-only from OneDrive that hasn’t been previously downloaded to your PC (marked with a green checkmark in File Explorer), your PC could bugcheck (GSOD). You can work around this problem by right-clicking on these files and selecting “Always keep on this device.” Any file-on-demand from OneDrive that is already downloaded to the PC should open fine.
  • The Emoji Panel keyboard shortcuts don’t work – for now you’ll need to use the touch keyboard to enter emoji. If you right-click on the taskbar you’ll find an option to show the touch keyboard button and go from there.

 

Source: Windows Blogs (Fast)

Windows Blogs (Skip Ahead)

Mar 05

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17112 for Fast Ring

Builds are piling up these last weeks, (17107,17110,17112) were getting close to RS4 release for sure!
The time is now more than ever your chance to test & feedback before the release so get your systems up2date and make sure you use the Feedback Hub to report any issues or suggestions to the team. (Windows key + F)
This build has a few issues that might impact your productivity so read below before yo upgrade

Windows Mixed Reality

There are two issues impacting the usability of Windows Mixed Reality on this build. Windows Mixed Reality runs at a very low frame rate (8-10fps) that could result in some physical discomfort. And there are multiple crashes at startup that will cause Windows Mixed Reality to not work. For Insiders who want to keep Windows Mixed Reality working – you might want to consider hitting pause on taking new Insider Preview builds until these issues are fixed. You can pause Insider Preview builds by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program and pressing the “Stop Insider Preview builds” button and choosing “Pause updates for a bit”.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

    • We fixed an issue where selecting a notification after taking a screenshot or game clip opened the Xbox app’s home screen instead of opening the screenshot or game clip.
    • We fixed an issue where EFI and Recovery partitions were unexpectedly listed in Defragment and Optimize Drives.
    • We fixed an issue optimizing drives in Defragment and Optimize Drives didn’t work in the last few flights.
    • We fixed an issue resulting in a permanently black window if you dragged a tab out of a Microsoft Edge window, pulled it up to the top edge of the screen, and moved it back down and released it.
    • We fixed an issue where the warning on Windows 10 S when trying to run non-Microsoft Store apps from File Explorer might end up stuck behind the File Explorer window.
    • We fixed an issue where there was some unexpected extra space in the File Explorer navigation pane before the chevron icons to expand/collapse folders.
    • We fixed an issue where if focus was set inside Action Center pressing Esc wouldn’t close the Action Center window.
    • We fixed an issue that could result in ShellExperienceHost periodically waking the device from hibernate if active live tiles were pinned to Start.
    • We fixed an issue where navigating to Settings > System > Focus Assist > “Customize your priority list” could crash Settings.

Known issues

    • IMPORTANT: The Microsoft Store may be completely broken or disappeared altogether after upgrading to this build. Please see this forum post for details including a workaround on how to get the Microsoft Store back.
    • If you try to open a file that is available online-only from OneDrive that hasn’t been previously downloaded to your PC (marked with a green checkmark in File Explorer), your PC could bugcheck (GSOD). You can work around this problem by right-clicking on these files and selecting “Always keep on this device.” Any file-on-demand from OneDrive that is already downloaded to the PC should open fine.
    • Post-install at the first user-prompted reboot or shutdown, a small number of devices have experienced a scenario wherein the OS fails to load properly and may enter a reboot loop state. For affected PCs, turning off fast boot may bypass the issue. If not, it is necessary to create a bootable ISO on a USB drive, boot into recovery mode, and this this will allow bypass.
    • When Movies & TV user denies access to its videos library (through the “Let Movies & TV access your videos library?” popup window or through Windows privacy settings), Movies & TV crashes when the user navigates to the “Personal” tab.

Source: Windows  Blogs

Feb 12

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17093 for PC

Last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17093 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring and for those who opted in to Skip Ahead. Great stuff for gamebar, Video playback & Password less option for Windows S! and much; much more… Enjoy!

What’s new in Build 17093

Cool updates on the Gamebar:

Updated Game bar design in RS4!

  • We’ve given Game bar a makeover so it’s even easier to find what you’re looking for.
  • Go to your captures, toggle your microphone and camera, and edit the title of your Mixer stream—all from new buttons on Game bar.
  • Quickly check the time using the new clock.
  • Choose a theme—Dark, Light, or your current Windows theme.
  • Game bar settings are easier to use.

Game bar in light mode.

Game bar in light mode.

Diagnostic Data Improvements

Last week, we announced some new privacy tools as part of Data Privacy Day which included the Diagnostic Data Viewer that showed up for Windows Insiders in Build 17083. With our commitment to transparency and control, users can now delete the Windows Diagnostic Data that Microsoft has collected from your device. In Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback, you will find a delete button that deletes the Windows diagnostic data associated with your device.

You can now delete the Windows Diagnostic Data that Microsoft has collected from your device.

Note: The backend cloud system is currently under development and will be available to complete the Delete requests prior to public release of RS4.

Graphics Improvements

HDR Video on more Windows PCs: Many newer devices are capable of HDR video, but needed to be calibrated in the factory to enable HDR. Now, we are expanding HDR video access to more users via new functionality via Settings > Apps > Video playback. If the “Stream HDR video” toggle can be switched to “On”, your device can be calibrated for HDR video.

To try our experimental calibration tool, click the link “Change calibration settings for HDR video on my built-in display”. This allows you to change the way HDR video appears on your device, allowing you to find your preferred balance between details in dark scenes and details in bright scenes. This tool is still early stage, and we’d love any feedback you might have as we are getting this tool ready for release with RS4.

We are expanding HDR video access to more users via new functionality via Settings > Apps > Video playback. If the "Stream HDR video" toggle can be switched to "On", your device can be calibrated for HDR video.

Note: By default, HDR video uses the full brightness of your screen, so it consumes a little more battery. Fear not: if you want the best of both, just check the box “Don’t increase display brightness when watching HDR video on battery” under “Battery Options” in Settings > Apps > Video playback.

New Graphics settings for Multi-GPU Systems: In this build we’re introducing a new Graphics settings page for Multi-GPU systems that allows you to manage the graphics performance preference of your apps. You may be familiar with similar graphics control panels from AMD and Nvidia, and you can continue to use those control panels. When you set an application preference in the Windows Graphics settings, that will take precedence over the other control panel settings. Find the page by going to Settings > System > Display and scrolling down to the “Advanced graphics settings” link. (In future flights, you will see this link as “Graphics settings”.)

The first step is to choose an application to configure. Choosing a “Classic app” will let you browse to an application on your system. Choosing a “Universal app” will let you choose a Store application from a list. By default, the application added to the Graphics settings page is given a “System default” preference. System default means that the system decides the best GPU for your application.

Picture of advanced graphics settings page in Settings. You can choose an app to select graphics performance preference – there’s a dropdown to choose between classic app and universal app.

Once you’ve chosen the application, click on the application in the list and then click the “Options” button. The “Power saving” mode is a request to run the application on the most power saving GPU available. The “High performance” mode is a request to run the application on the most high performance GPU available. Generally, the power saving GPU is the integrated GPU on a system, and the high performance GPU is the discrete GPU or external GPU. If you have both a discrete GPU and an external GPU on a system, the external GPU is considered the high performance GPU.

Remove an application from the list by clicking the application and clicking the “Remove” button. Removing an application is the same as choosing “System default”.

Graphics specifications popup, showing the option to switch graphics preference between system default, power saving, and high performance.

Applications are always allowed to have the ultimate choice of which GPU to use, so you may see additional applications that do not follow the preferences you set. In that case, look for a setting within the application itself to choose a preference.

If you have feedback about the feature, please reach out to us directly on the Feedback Hub.

Go password-less with Windows 10 S!

Do you hate entering your passwords all the time? So do we. Passwords are inconvenient and insecure. With Windows 10 S you don’t have to! Just download the Authenticator App and use it to set up your Windows 10 S PC. You will be able to go through the out-of-box experience, set up Windows Hello and access all your favorite apps and services – all without ever having to enter your password.

Starting with this build, your Windows 10 S PC will automatically make your experience password-free.

With the changes in this build, your Windows 10 S PC will automatically make your experience password-free. You will notice that if you have Windows Hello set up, you won’t see passwords anywhere in the Windows experience – not on the unlock screen nor in Sign-in options.

You will notice that if you have Windows Hello set up, you won’t see passwords anywhere in the Windows experience – not on the unlock screen nor in Sign-in options.

You will notice that if you have Windows Hello set up, you won’t see passwords anywhere in the Windows experience – not on the unlock screen nor in Sign-in options.

Eye Control Improvements

We first released eye control for the Windows 10 Fall Creator’s Update back in October 2017 and we’re excited to share some of the new capabilities we’re adding with today’s flight to enable a richer eye control experience. We’ve received a lot of great feedback requesting improvements to eye control – like easier controls for scrolling and quicker access to common tasks. All up, here are three areas we’re updating based on your feedback:

Navigate more easily: We’re adding the ability to more easily scroll content, like email and websites. We also heard the need for a quicker way to click with the mouse, so in addition to precise mouse control we’ve incorporated direct left click and direct right click capabilities into the launchpad.

Get there quick: Accelerate to common tasks with quick access to Start, Timeline, Settings, and device calibration, now available right from the eye control launchpad.

Pause when you need to: We also received feedback on the importance of pausing or hiding the launchpad when not needed to avoid accidental clicks, so we’ve added a pause button on the launchpad. Eye control users now have the flexibility to hide the launchpad for uninterrupted reading, streaming, or relaxing without accidental clicking. Re-engaging the launchpad is simple too – just glance at the pause button in the top or bottom middle of the screen.

Eye control is still in preview, and we welcome your feedback to help improve the experience!

The eye control launchpad. Shows reposition the launchpad, direct left click, direct right click, scroll, text to speech, precise mouse control, keyboard, calibration, Start, Timeline, Settings, and Pause button.

Windows Security Improvements

Windows Defender is now Windows Security in Settings: We have renamed the settings page under Settings > Update & Security from “Windows Defender” to “Windows Security. This settings page has also been redesigned – putting emphasis on the various protection areas to keep you safe and secure on your PC.

We have renamed the settings page under Settings > Update & Security from “Windows Defender” to “Windows Security. This settings page has also been redesigned – putting emphasis on the various protection areas to keep you safe and secure on your PC.

Account Protection Pillar in Windows Defender: We’ve made it easier for users to protect their identity when signing in to Windows with the new Account Protection pillar in Windows Defender Security Center.  Account Protection will encourage password users to set up Windows Hello Face, Fingerprint or PIN for faster sign in, and will notify Dynamic lock users if Dynamic lock has stopped working because their phone or device Bluetooth is off.

Device Security Pillar in Windows Defender: We’re giving you greater insight into the security features integrated in your Windows device. The Device Security page provides you with status reporting and management of security features built into your devices – including toggling features on to provide enhanced protections.

Bluetooth Improvements

Streamlined Pairing and Connecting to Certain Bluetooth Devices: Starting with this build, Windows enables users to start pairing and connecting supported devices in a single click. When these devices are ready to pair and detected to be in range, Windows shows a notification to the user allowing them to quickly and conveniently start the pairing process. We want to thank the Surface Accessories team for partnering closely with us and having the first device available on the market supporting this great new experience, the Surface Precision Mouse. We are working with many other partners to grow the list of supported devices, and a number of them are on the way. To learn more, check out our blog post here.

Microsoft Edge Improvements

Evolving full screen mode (F11): With the Fall Creators Update we added F11 support to Microsoft Edge, to enable you to take full advantage of your screen real estate. Full screen removes the Edge frame so that only the webpage is visible. You can enter this mode by pressing the F11 key, and exiting using the same key. We’ve heard your feedback, and with this build we’re updating this experience so that without leaving full screen you can now access the address bar and navigate to other sites, add a site as a favorite, and more. To do this, simply hover your mouse at the top of the screen while in full screen mode, or using touch drag a finger down from the top of the screen, and the familiar controls will appear. As always, don’t hesitate to provide feedback so we can continue improving this feature.

Clutter-free printing: Now you can print webpages from Microsoft Edge without ads and unnecessary clutter from the web. Enable the “Clutter-free printing” option in the print dialog and print only the content you want. Note: this option will only be visible for certain type of webpages.

The print dialog opened from Microsoft Edge, with the clutter-free printing option highlighted.

Input Improvements

Multilingual text support in Windows: If you type in more than one Latin script languages on Windows, you’re going to like this new feature. With the Touch Keyboard, you do NOT have to manually switch the language anymore! Simply continue typing in multiple languages and Windows will assist you by showing predictions from multiple languages to make you more productive.

The additional step of manually switching between languages creates a barrier for users that are multi-lingual. We’re hoping that this feature can reduce that barrier and allow you to easily type in multiple languages.

With this build, Windows supports up to 3 Latin script languages for multi-lingual text predictions. It picks the top 3 installed languages from Language Settings while suggesting predictions. You can turn the feature off by going to Settings > Devices > Typing > Multilingual Text Prediction.

Text Prediction support for a bunch more languages! If you’re using the touch keyboard in any of the following languages, you’ll now see words suggested as you type: Assamese, Bashkir, Belarusian, Greenlandic, Hawaiian, Icelandic, Igbo, Irish, Kyrgyz, Luxembourgish, Maltese, Maori, Mongolian, Nepali, Pashto, Sakha, Tajik, Tatar, Tswana, Turkmen, Urdu, Uyghur, Welsh, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu.

Windows App Permissions

Updated Privacy Settings navigation pane: To improve visual acuity, we’ve added new categories to the Privacy Settings navigation pane – here’s what it looks like:

Privacy Settings, with the nav pane showing Windows permissions and app permissions grouped.

View user dictionary: We’ve added a new section to Speech, Inking, & Typing settings under Privacy so that you can new view your user dictionary and easily clear it if need be.

Ease of Access Improvements

Narrator has been enabled in safe mode: You can now use Narrator when in safe mode! Note: It’s recommended for Narrator users to enter safe mode via msconfig.exe. On some devices you may need to use USB headphones to hear audio in safe mode.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) updates

Note about launch speed: The first launch of each distro will be slow on this build.  Some of our updates require sizeable changes to the Linux file system directories; applying those changes may take a few minutes. This should only happen once for each distribution you have installed from the store.

WSL is more configurable with wsl.conf: We added a method for you to automatically configure certain functionality in WSL that will be applied every time you launch the subsystem. This includes automount options and network configuration. Learn more about it in our blog post.

AF_UNIX allows socket connections between Linux processes on WSL and Windows native processes: WSL and Windows applications can now communicate with each other over Unix sockets. Imagine you want to run a service in Windows and make it available to both Windows and WSL apps. Now, that’s possible with Unix sockets. Read more in our blog post.

Better file handling via folder level case sensitivity: One of the tricky problems sharing data between Linux and Windows comes down to file case handling.  Windows isn’t case sensitive, Linux is.  In the past WSL used exclusively process-based case sensitivity.  Starting in 17089, NTFS has a new flag that can be set on directories to indicate all operations in those directories should be treated as case sensitive, which allows Windows applications to correctly open files that differ only by case.

For an even more detailed list of WSL updates, read the WSL release notes.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue where the network flyout didn’t have an acrylic background (Yay Fluent Design!).
  • We fixed the issue causing VPN clients installed via the Microsoft Store to not work after upgrading to Build 17083.
  • We fixed an issue where the Home text label was missing from the Settings navigation pane.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Security in Settings was missing an icon in the navigation pane.
  • We fixed an issue where dropdowns in the new App volume and device preferences page under Sound Settings were truncated when the Settings window wasn’t wide enough.
  • We fixed an issue where the new App volume and device preferences page under Sound Settings might have duplicate apps listed.
  • We fixed issues with the slider controls for sound under Settings > System > Sound and “App volume and device preferences”. Thanks @MSWindowsinside, @CrazyCatsGot2 and @TheScarfix for reporting this!
  • We fixed an issue in Windows Update Settings where if you’d selected restart to kick off an upgrade and then canceled the restart, the restart button in Settings would no longer be functional.
  • We fixed an issue where the data limit dialog on the Data Usage Settings page had no margins.
  • We fixed an issue where permissions for inbox apps were cleared out when upgrading to recent builds, resulting in you being unexpectedly re-prompted to enable or disable these permissions when you launched an impacted app.
  • We fixed an issue where the Advanced display settings link was missing from Display Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where going to Focus Assist Settings might crash Settings.
  • We’ve updated the “Use my sign-in info…” text in Sign-in Options settings to be more clear.
  • We fixed an issue where clicking the search entry from the app command menu of certain apps would crash explorer.exe.
  • We fixed an issue where the night light quick action in the Action Center sometimes didn’t work due to a long running calculation of the schedule to automatically turn on/off night light.
  • We’ve updated the Action Center context menu such that the three focus assist states are now collapsed under one expandable entry.
  • We fixed an issue where sharing to Cortana Reminders wasn’t working in recent flights.
  • We’ve updated the OneDrive Files-on-Demand state icon in File Explorer’s navigation pane so they now display closer to the file icon.
  • We fixed an issue where burning an ISO file to CD threw an unexpected error “Selected Disc image file isn’t valid” in recent builds.
  • We’ve updated the People flyout to now use your accent color when “Show accent color” is selected in Color Settings.
  • We have fixed the issue where Win32 apps pinned to Start would display as blank live tiles that show only a name starting with “W~”.
  • We fixed an issue where the Start layout might get reset if you upgraded straight from the Anniversary Update.
  • We have fixed the issue where using Task View to switch to an app might result in touch not working properly in that app.
  • We fixed an issue where using the new right-click options to delete groups of activities from Timeline might not delete the entire group.
  • As we prepare RS4 for release, we’re removing the feedback button in Task View that was introduced for Insiders to give feedback on Timeline – thanks everyone who’s logged feedback so far! We welcome you to continue giving feedback via the Feedback Hub under the Desktop Environment > Timeline category.
  • We fixed an issue where the text label for creating virtual desktops in Task View was truncated in certain languages.
  • We fixed an issue where the app icons in the Open With dialog might appear pixelated on high DPI screens.
  • We fixed an issue where music wouldn’t re-route back to audio peripheral if you skipped to next track before connecting the USB or Bluetooth audio device.
  • We fixed an issue where the Windows.old folder wasn’t completely emptied and removed after cleanup.
  • We fixed an issue where using Ctrl + Alt + Break in Hyper-V didn’t work to make a VM re-enter full screen mode.
  • We fixed an issue where vmconnect couldn’t insert or eject an ISO/DVD drive.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in lower frame rates in games in certain monitor configurations.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in audio from Microsoft Edge sometimes becoming unexpectedly muted in the last few flights.
  • We fixed an issue where when using Microsoft Edge with dark theme the text in the address bar might become black on dark grey.
  • We fixed a number of issues impacting Microsoft Edge reliability in the last few builds.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in opening a new tab in Microsoft Edge in recent builds potentially taking an unexpectedly long time.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge file downloads to secondary drives failing in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in SVG images on certain websites not rendering in Microsoft Edge.
  • When dragging a website from the address bar in Microsoft Edge in order to pin it to the favorites bar, you will now see the favicon and website name follow your mouse as you drag.
  • We fixed an issue from recent builds where content copied to the clipboard using Web Notes in Microsoft Edge couldn’t be pasted.
  • We fixed an issue where certain PDF files wouldn’t display their context menu correctly in Microsoft Edge.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge potentially crashing on launch when using roaming profiles.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to scroll components of certain websites when viewed in Microsoft Edge despite a scrollbar being visible.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to use Flash on certain sites in Microsoft Edge in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge crashing recently if you clicked on the page when in caret mode.
  • We fixed an issue in Microsoft Edge in recent builds where clicking on link’s in the ‘Ask Cortana’ sidebar might open the page inside the sidebar instead of the main window.
  • We fixed an issue from the last two builds where certain websites didn’t load in Microsoft Edge, although the name of the website was correct in the tab.
  • We fixed an issue from the last two builds where an unexpected grey rectangle was visible in Microsoft Edge settings next to the word Settings.
  • We fixed an issue from the last build where processes in Task Manager only showed at most 100mb of memory used.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator wouldn’t say anything if you were to use the arrow keys to navigate through text typed into Command Prompt.
  • We fixed an issue an issue where the touch keyboard might be a pixel-width up from the bottom of the screen if the display scaling wasn’t 100%, leading to the keyboard unexpectedly dismissing if you tapped that area.
  • We fixed an issue an issue resulting in the one-handed touch keyboard being unexpectedly large in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue from recently builds where shapewriting in the touch keyboard would stop showing text candidates if you were using it, dismissed the keyboard, re-invoked the keyboard, and tried to start shapewriting again.
  • We fixed an issue from recent builds impacting Emoji Panel invocation reliability.

Known issues

  • We have observed seeing longer-than-normal delays during install at the 88% mark. Some delays are as long as 90 minutes before moving forward. Please be patient as the install will complete successfully.
  • Some PCs will fail to resume from hibernate requiring a hard reboot to recover.
  • If you install a font product from the Microsoft Store, then later install a new build (feature update), the Store package will remain installed, but the fonts within the package are not installed. Until this is fixed, the temporary workaround is to uninstall the product from the Apps page in Settings, then re-acquire the product from the Store.
  • If an East Asian keyboard is the only input method on your system the touch keyboard will show an English layout with no IME on/off key. Until this is fixed, the workaround is to add a second keyboard language from the Region & Language Settings page, or to use the IME mode button in the taskbar.
  • We’re investigating an issue where the Japanese IME sometimes can’t turn on in UWP apps. If you encounter this issue switch to a Win32 application (e.g. Notepad), turn the IME on there, then switch back to the UWP app.
  • We’re investigating reports that 3 and 4 finger gestures on the touchpad have become unresponsive starting with the previous flight.
  • Windows Hello will fail to work on Surface Laptops with this build.
  • Plugging in an external optical drive (DVD) will cause an Explorer.exe crash.
  • Settings will crash if you open the Themes Settings page.
  • Buttons on Game bar are not centered correctly.
  • In some games—such as Destiny 2 and Fortnite—mouse and keyboard input will still go to the game while Game bar is open.
  • Selecting a notification after taking a screenshot or game clip opens the Xbox app’s home screen instead of opening the screenshot or game clip.
  • After Game bar closes, the mouse cursor resets to the position it was in when Game bar was opened.
  • Keyboard and mouse input may not work correctly in Game bar when playing a first person game (e.g. Minecraft). Alt+Tab out of and into the game should fix this.
  • In the text box for Mixer stream title, using non-character keys (e.g. Tab, Delete, Backspace, etc.) may cause the game to hang for a few seconds.
  • Bringing up Game bar using the Xbox button on an Xbox One controller doesn’t work in some games.
  • [ADDED 2/9] For Insiders who had HomeGroup added as a folder to appear on Start and upgrade to Build 17093, their Start menu will not work due to HomeGroup being removed. We’re working to have a fix in the next build. Unfortunately there is no workaround unless you rollback to the previous build.

source: Windows Blogs

 

Feb 12

2018 Windows Insider Annual Survey

There’s still time to participate in our 2018 Windows Insider Annual Survey! Thanks to everyone who has already completed our Annual Survey. If you haven’t had a chance to respond, there’s still time – and we’d love to hear from you. This survey is one of the most important tools we have for shaping the Windows Insider Program. It’s your chance to tell us what interests you most about the program – and how we can make your Insider experience even better.

Looking for more news on the latest Windows features? Need more resources as a developer or IT Professional? Got an idea for taking the program in an exciting new direction? Or perhaps you’re simply happy with the program as it is now. Let us know!

Click here to take the annual survey now.

klik hier voor de nerderlandse versie.

The survey only takes 10-15 minutes to complete. But the input you provide will help shape the program for the rest of the year – and beyond.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Jan 15

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17074 for PC

Microsoft released Build 17074 to the Insider Fast Ring last week, Edge is getting even more cool stuff 🙂
Auto fill for forms works amazing, InPrivate mode now had add-ins & your saved passwords, favorites are even better to manage..
Quiet Hours got smart, will turn on automatically when required during screen duplication or gaming.
Even more new stuff & a ton of fixes below. enjoy upgrading & testing the new features!

What’s new in Build 17074

Reimagined Windows Internationalization

We have redesigned localization of Windows in this release. Now you can find your desired language (Local Experience Pack – or “Language Pack”) through the Microsoft Store and Region & Language section of the Settings app. The Settings app provides improved discoverability of features supported for each language.

We have also started utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and neural network-based Machine Learning (ML) for Windows localization. Having the Local Experience Packs in the Microsoft Store allows us to take advantage of ML improvements and user feedback via Language Community App to release better translations more frequently. This will consistently improve the experience of our international customers with Windows.

Microsoft Edge Improvements

Hub improvements: We’ve revamped the Hub view in Microsoft Edge to show more content and to be easier and more intuitive to use. You’ll now find the different Hub sections listed with the full name visible in the Navigation view to the left of the content. This view can be collapsed to show icons only if you prefer to save space.

Screen capture showing the new Hub opened in Microsoft Edge, with the Navigation pane expanded to show Favorites, Reading List, Books, History, and Downloads.

Autofill cards on web forms: Microsoft Edge can now save and automatically fill your card information on payment web forms. On submission of a form with card information, Microsoft Edge will prompt you to save card information. In the future, you can simply select the preferred card from a drop-down menu to autofill necessary fields. Microsoft Edge securely saves your card information. CVV information is never saved. All cards linked to your Microsoft Account are also made available for automatically filling card information.

 

New reading experience for EPUB, PDF, and Reading View: We’ve overhauled the look and feel of the reading and Books experiences in Microsoft Edge, bringing a new, consistent, more powerful experience across all your documents, whether they’re EPUB or PDF books, documents, or web pages in Reading View.

Screen recording showing the Reading View in Microsoft Edge toggling between Dark and Light modes.

The new reading experience uses Fluent Design System elements like motion and Acrylic material to provide a fluid, delightful experience that keeps the focus on the page.

In Books, we’ve added a new pop-over menu for “Notes,” making it a snap to navigate between annotations, notes, or highlights. We’ve also updated the Seek bar, so you can scrub through your document more easily, including Go-to-page (Ctrl-G) to find a specific page in the document. Go-to-page supports PDF Page Labels or EPUB Page List, so the page numbers can correspond to a print source that may be numbered differently.

Grammar Tools for EPUB books and Reading View: When viewing reflowable EPUB books or Reading View for websites, you can now use the new Grammar Tools button to enable new comprehension aids. Grammar Tools can break the words on the page into syllables, as well as highlight different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Screen capture showing the an EPUB book in Microsoft Edge. The Grammar Tools pane is open with “Split words into syllables” and “Highlight all Verbs” turned to “On.” In the background a page from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland shows with words split into syllables and verbs highlighted in red.

New Full-screen reading experience: You can now take Books, PDFs, and Reading View pages full-screen, for a distraction-free reading experience.

Improved roaming for progress and notes across devices: For Store books, reading progress, notes, bookmarks, and annotations will roamed much faster across devices on the same account in near-real-time via WNS.

Screen capture showing the Notes and Table of Contents views open over a Book in Microsoft Edge.

The new “Notes” and “Table of contents” let you navigate between chapters or highlights, notes, and annotations with ease.

General Improvements: We’ve made many improvements to fixed layout EPUB books, so content should be arranged more predictably on the page. Users of assistive technology will also find several improvements to viewing PDFs or Books with a screen reader, including more explicit narration when opening, loading, and navigating books.

Improved Library experience: We’ve built on the library improvements in Build 17035 with new changes in response to your feedback. Now, in addition to refreshing your library or pinning books to your Start menu, you can see recommendations for new books (when your library is empty) or filter expired rentals from the current library view. When you’re reading a book, we now show a Books icon and the title, rather than the URI, for a clearer and less cluttered presentation.

Audio Narrated Books: We’ve added support for EPUB Media Overlays, enabling support for a tailored narration experience, including custom audio and highlight styles. On supported books, you can now hear the book read aloud with custom narration, with the publisher’s chosen style applied to the highlight as the book is read. We’ve also made accessibility improvements when using Narrator to browse, search, or load a book.

Favorites bar improvements: The Favorites Bar will now automatically show on Start and New tab pages, if you have at least one favorite in it. When you navigate, the Favorites Bar will automatically hide to give you the most space for browsing. You may still choose to always show the favorites bar if you wish, via a context menu on the favorites bar “Show bar”, or via settings “Show the favorites bar”. The Favorites bar also now supports hiding names for individual favorite bar items, instead of having to either hide none or all names.

Option to never save passwords for domains: One of the top pieces of Windows Insider feedback was to provide an option to never save password for certain sites. When you choose to never save passwords, you shall never be prompted with a save password notification for that site.

Autofill passwords when InPrivate: Microsoft Edge now supports auto-filling of saved passwords when browsing InPrivate. To view list of available credentials for a site, click on the username field and it would populate all saved credentials for the website. No user credentials will be saved or updated when the windows is InPrivate.

Use Extensions when InPrivate: We’ve heard your feedback and have added the ability to load extensions when Microsoft Edge is in an InPrivate window. You can grant individual extensions permission to run in InPrivate from the options menu for the extension. We’re working with extension developers to enable more features when InPrivate.

Variable Fonts: Microsoft Edge now supports CSS extensions for OpenType Font Variations, which allows single “variable” font files to behave like multiple fonts, with a range of weight, width, or other attributes. You can see examples of variable fonts in practice at the Axis-Praxis Playground in Microsoft Edge.

Screen recording of a web page in Microsoft Edge, displaying an animation of a cartoon horse with a rider galloping.

Demo page from Axis-Praxis showing an animation of a horse using OpenType Variable Fonts.

Vertically dock the Microsoft Edge DevTools: The Microsoft Edge DevTools can now be docked vertically, fulfilling a a top web developer feature request. Click the new “Dock Right” button in the top-right corner of the tools to toggle the location. In a future update, we plan to improve the UI and flow of DevTools content when docked vertically.

Screen Capture showing the Microsoft Edge DevTools docked to the right of a web page.

Windows Shell Improvements

Quiet Hours: Are there certain times when you don’t want to be interrupted or just need to stay focused on what you’re doing? Be more productive with Quiet Hours. With this build you can automatically choose those times when you don’t want to be bothered with Quiet Hours automatic rules.

The new Quiet hours experience coming in RS4.

 

  • Quiet Hours will automatically turn on when you are duplicating your display. Never get interrupted during presentations again!
  • Quiet Hours will turn on automatically when you are playing a full screen exclusive DirectX game.
  • You can set the schedule that works for you so that Quiet Hours are always on when you want them. Go to Settings > Quiet Hours to configure your schedule.
  • Customize your own priority list so that your important people and apps always breakthrough when Quiet Hours are on. People pinned to your task bar with always break through!
  • See a summary of what you missed while you were in Quiet Hours.
  • If you’re using Cortana, you can also have Quiet Hours turn on while you’re at home.

Making your folders more discoverable: In response to your feedback, especially for those upgrading to Windows 10 for the first time, we’re making it easier to navigate to the things you care about by showing links to the Documents and Pictures folders in the Start menu by default. If you’d like to customize the folders that appear here, just right click an item and there’s now a link directly to the customization settings. We love the feedback!  Let us know if this helps and continue to tell us if there are ways we can make it easier for you to quickly get to the stuff you care about in Windows!

Start menu with context menu showing saying “personalize this list” that would appear after right-clicking the Photos folder icon on the left side of Start.

Near Share Improvements: Thanks everyone who’s shared feedback about Near Share – we’ve made some important reliability fixes to the feature with this build, so please give it a try once you upgrade.

For those who haven’t seen Near Share already, here’s a demo:

Note: Please update all of your Insider PCs to the latest flight to nearby share between them. PCs running older Insider Preview builds won’t be discoverable by those running the latest flight.

Windows Settings Improvements

Improved Storage Settings: If you head to Settings you’ll find that Disk Cleanup functionality has been rolled over into Storage Settings as part of our efforts to consolidate our settings experience.

Temporary files section in Settings – scanning for temp files, shows Thumbnails, Temporary files, Recycle Bin and more things that can be cleaned up.

Sound Settings Improvements: Continuing our work to make the new Sound Settings page a one stop shop for your audio needs, we’ve made some more design tweaks and have added some more helpful links. We’ve also added a brand new “App volume and device preferences” page to help you customize your audio experience to best fit your needs and preferences! Please explore these pages and share your feedback as we continuously work on improving them.

Sound settings landing page, showing these two new options under Other sound options.

About Settings Improvements: We’ve updated About Settings so you can now select and copy your device name. We’ve also added a link to System info and updated our search strings so that if you search for “computer name” you’ll now see a link that takes you to About Settings.

Manage app execution aliases from Settings: UWP apps can declare a name used to run the app from a command prompt – we’ve added a new page under Apps & Features Settings where you can turn these execution aliases on or off (particularly in the case where multiple apps use the same alias, and you want to choose which to give preference to).

Input Improvements

Introducing the Embedded Handwriting Panel: In this Insider release, users get to experience a new way to handwrite on Windows. Typically handwriting is done in a panel that’s separate from the text field and requires users to split their attention between the handwriting in the panel and the text in the text field. Our new handwriting experience brings handwriting input into the text control!

To invoke the experience, just tap your pen into a supported text field and it will expand to provide a comfortable area for you to write in. Your handwriting will get recognized and converted into text. If you run out of space, an additional line will be created below so you can continue writing. Once you’re done, simply tap outside the text field.

If something gets misrecognized or you’d like to edit what you’ve written, the same gestures that are available through the handwriting panel are also available, like the new insert gesture we added recently. Overall, we believe moving handwriting into the same location as the text will create a more comfortable, confident, and direct experience. Try it out and let us know what you think!

If you’d like to turn this experience off, there’s an option to do so in Pen & Windows Ink Settings, although if you do, please take a moment to log feedback about why you made this decision.

Note: This experience currently works in all XAML text fields except the Microsoft Edge address bar, Cortana, Mail, and the Calendar app. These teams are working on making the experience more tailored to their applications. This embedded experience will *only* appear if you’re using a pen to tap the text field – if you use touch, the existing handwriting panel will be invoked.  

Handwriting Recognition Updates  

Windows can now recognize Hindi handwriting: We’ve expanding our handwriting capabilities to new languages including Hindi, Welsh, Sesotho, Wolof and Maori!

To install one of these languages, go to Settings > Time & language > Region & Language and click “Add a language”. Select the language name and click Next. Make sure to select the “Handwriting” checkbox and select “Install.”. Reboot the machine for the changes to take effect.

Now switch to the input language of your choice – Hindi for example. Writing in that language will show handwriting recognition results in that language and convert it to text.  If you speak these languages, please give it a try and share feedback in the in the Feedback Hub, under Input and Language > Handwriting Recognition. As a reminder, if you’d like to use the handwriting panel with touch, you’ll need to enable it – it’s an option in Pen & Windows Ink Settings.

Writing Namaste in Hindi using the handwriting panel.

In addition to the handwriting panel, any app that uses the Ink Analysis APIs will now be able to recognize ink in these new languages without any additional changes!

XAML Improvements

We wanted to take a moment to walk through some of the changes you’ll see with apps using the next Insider SDK that is published. You’ll also see this across various elements in the system that use XAML.

Reveal in Light theme: Reveal will now show up by default with dark borders in light theme, but will continue to have a white hover Reveal:

Reveal in light theme now has dark borders.

Improved NavigationView:

  • We’ve stabilized and added animations for item headers, pane opening, and item selection events.
  • We’ve fixed several bugs with the Back Button in NavigationView.

Border Reveal in Lists: Based on feedback we’ve made the decision to removal Border Reveal in lists. It will be removed for ListView and TreeView. It will still be visible in NavigationView.

That means that ListView and TreeView will now only have the borders on hover, but no approach behavior will be applied to them.

Comparing approach and hover for dark and light theme as described in the above changes blurb.

CommandBar Margins: We’ve added a 2px margin between AppBarButtons by default when they are in a CommandBar. This also applies to the AppBarButtonRevealStyle. This can be seen below:

Showing the new wider CommandBar margins.

Important note about the Camera app

Some Insiders may have noticed changes in the Windows Camera app. You will get a more personalized behavior, like remembering the last camera and scene used. Handling two cameras simultaneously and more resolution options are available too. We also made some core architecture changes to the product to remove a lot of complex handling for unsupported devices and functionality that is now duplicated in core Windows operating system functionality. These changes will help us to innovate, fix bugs, and deliver new features. We think that this set of changes will long term yield a much higher quality Camera experience for all users!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We have rolled out Sets to more Insiders – if you see it show up, please try it out and do the Quests in Feedback Hub!
  • This build includes mitigations to protect Insiders from the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. For more information on this topic, please see this blog post from Terry Myerson. Additionally, if you are running 3rd party antivirus software on your PC you will need to ensure you are running the latest most up-to-date version of your antivirus software with the latest antivirus definitions to avoid having your PC get into a bad state.
  • Windows now fully supports Adobe-style “.otf” OpenType Variable Fonts, like the Acumin Variable Concept font and others recently released by Adobe.
  • Insiders running Windows 10 S may have noticed that after upgrading to the latest builds, their PC appears to be running “Windows 10 Pro In S Mode”. This change is by design and these PCs will continue to function as Windows 10 S PCs and will continue to be able to take Insider Preview builds as part of testing RS4. We’ll have more to share as we get closer to the next Windows 10 release.
  • For Insiders who reported that Windows needs activation after upgrading to Build 17063, this build includes the fix that caused the issue however you will need to use the Activation Troubleshooter to get your activation back into a good state once you’re on this build.
  • We have added a new PowerShell cmdlet to retrieve decoded logs for Delivery Optimization (Get-DeliveryOptimizationLog).
  • We’ve updated the reveal effect in the Taskbar’s Clock and Calendar flyout such that the day with focus now has a lighter background.
  • Now that it’s had some time to receive your feedback, we’ve updated to be the default keyboard for the Tamil language.
  • We fixed an issue where Settings might crash if the window was too small.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Update Settings unexpectedly displayed two horizontal lines.
  • We fixed an issue where in certain cases USB devices with unreliable connections might cause bugchecks (GSOD) on PCs.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight where touch and pen weren’t working on the non-primary display. This might also have resulted in mouse, touch, and pen input not happening in the right place after an orientation change or when using a non-native aspect ratio.
  • We fixed an issue where if you were using any EUDC fonts Microsoft Edge, Cortana, and other apps that use a webview wouldn’t launch.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge crashing when deleting favorites.
  • We fixed an issue where Microsoft Edge might crash when trying to copy text or login on certain websites.
  • We fixed an issue where Microsoft Edge might crash when opening PDFs on the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue in Microsoft Edge resulting in images on flickr.com going blank after a follow/unfollow user action.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a white line being visible on the right side of screen when certain videos are watched full screen in Microsoft Edge.
  • We fixed an issue where while navigating through OOBE, some of the buttons in the pages might not display correctly.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Themes appearing in Start after they’d been downloaded from Store.
  • We’ve updated the reveal effect in the Taskbar’s Clock and Calendar flyout such that the day with focus now has a lighter background.
  • We fixed an issue where the feedback message (like from Windows Hello) could end up overlapping Spotlight text on the lock screen.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Update Settings unexpectedly displayed two horizontal lines.
  • We fixed an issue where when transparency effects were turned off the Virtual Desktops pane in Task View would overlap Timeline with no background.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in an explorer.exe crash when using WIN + Tab to open Task View on the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in an explorer.exe crash when trying to use control.exe to open app defaults.
  • We fixed an issue where the Taskbar might render completely transparent on secondary monitors.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in certain apps, like Firefox, might not have audio after upgrading to the previous flight. This issue also impacted the ability to record audio in Microsoft Edge.
  • We fixed an issue where surround sound gaming headsets would revert to stereo after rebooting.
  • We fixed an issue in the audio service around app impersonation which was breaking audio recording from apps like Firefox which intentionally run with a restricted token.
  • We fixed a couple of issues resulting in crashes in the “audiosrv” and “audioendpointbuilder” audio services which would cause audio not to work, or new audio devices not to be recognized.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Hearthstone not launching on the previous build.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in fullscreen games getting stuck minimized or exiting fullscreen status unexpectedly.
  • We fixed an issue where the emoji panel search wasn’t working in desktop (Win32) apps.
  • We fixed an issue where the input flyout wouldn’t appear the first time you pressed WIN + Space.
  • We fixed a memory leak in NisSrv.exe from the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue where MsMpEng.exe might unexpectedly use a high number of disk I/Os per second for a long time.
  • We fixed an issue where WerFault.exe might spike to 50%+ CPU for an unexpectedly long time.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight where touch and pen weren’t working on the non-primary display. This might also have resulted in mouse, touch, and pen input not happening in the right place after an orientation change or when using a non-native aspect ratio.
  • We fixed an issue when using the Arabic touch keyboard where pressing Ctrl wouldn’t show the directional markers on the Shift keys.
  • We fixed an issue where the emoji panel search wasn’t working in desktop (Win32) apps.
  • We fixed an issue where the input flyout wouldn’t appear the first time you pressed WIN + Space.
  • We fixed an issue where the OneNote app wasn’t being included in Cortana’s ”Pick up where I left off” notifications.
  • We fixed an issue on certain PCs where using the fingerprint scanner wouldn’t wake the PC up from Connected Standby.
  • We fixed an issue where you might show as connected to the network, but you wouldn’t actually be connected to use the Internet.
  • We fixed an issue where in certain cases USB devices with unreliable connections might cause bugchecks (GSOD) on PCs.
  • We fixed two issues that could result in some PCs bugchecking (GSOD) when entering into Connected Standby. If you had a laptop that encountered this, the experience would have been that you’d open your laptop and unexpectedly be logging into a new session, rather than continuing the one open before closing the lid.
  • We fixed an issue where some Bluetooth devices weren’t working and Device Manager showing error 43 for those drivers.

Known issues

  • When users try to create a Microsoft Edge InPrivate window from inside a Mixed Reality headset, a regular window will get created instead. Users won’t be able to use InPrivate inside Mixed Reality in this build. InPrivate on desktop is not affected.
  • We’re preparing for the inclusion of OpenSSH Server as a deployment mechanism in Developer Mode. However the UI code got checked in ahead of the components, and so while there is a “Use OpenSSH (Beta) for remote deployment” switch in the UI under Settings, it won’t work, and turning it on will break remote deployment to that device until the switch is turned off.
  • When you open Task View immediately after an upgrade, Timeline may not be visible. If you encounter this, wait 15-30 minutes and try launching Task View again.
  • The Windows Defender icon is missing from the systray, even if it shows as enabled in Settings.
  • Certain devices may hang on the boot screen after upgrading. If this happens to you, go into the BIOS and disable virtualization.
  • Apps that come preinstalled with Windows may fail to update in the Store with error 0x80073CF9.
  • Audio playback from Microsoft Edge is sometimes unexpectedly muted. A workaround is to minimize Edge, count to three, and then unminimize.
  • Upgrading to 17063 or later builds sometimes causes Settings / Privacy / Microphone, Camera, etc. to flip to “disabled”, which breaks camera and microphone access. A workaround is to manually turn them back on.

source: Windows Blogs