Jun 01

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17682

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Last night, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17682 (RS5) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring in addition to those who opted in to Skip Ahead.

some cool tweaks and for the IT Pro’s among us at last RAST as a feature on demand! Nice! make sure you try to install these the new cool way 🙂

What’s new in Build 17682

Sets Improvements

We’ve heard your feedback and have been hard at work updating the new tab page to make it more obvious you can launch apps. When you click the plus button in a Sets window, you will now see apps included in your frequent destinations list. You’ll also find that we’ve integrated the all apps list into this page so you can browse your apps, rather than just using the search box – apps that support Sets will launch into a tab when clicked. If you have News Feed selected, simply click the “Apps” link next to “News Feed” to switch to the all apps list.

Sets’ new tab page, shows apps listed like File Explorer and Word.

Note: This is a server-side change flighting up for Insider who is on recent builds.

Managing your wireless projection experience

One of the things we’ve heard from you is that it’s hard to know when you’re wirelessly projecting and how to disconnect if your session especially if started from file explorer or from an app. In today’s build, just like remote desktop you’ll see a control banner at the top of your screen when you’re in a session. The banner keeps you informed of the state of your connection, allows you to quick disconnect or reconnect to the same sink and allows you to tune the connection based on what you are doing. This tuning is done via the settings gear, which optimizes the screen to screen latency based on one of the three scenarios:

  • Game mode minimizes the screen to screen latency to make gaming over a wireless connection possible.
  • Video mode increases the screen to screen latency to ensure the video on the big screen plays back smoothly and without glitching.
  • Productivity modes strikes a good balance between game mode and video mode where the screen to screen latency is responsive enough that typing feels natural, while ensuring videos don’t glitch too often.

By default, all connections start off in productivity mode. Stay tuned to this space as even more functionality is coming to the banner! Can’t wait to hear what you think of banner. Let us know via the Feedback Hub!

The new banner when projecting.

Microsoft Edge improvements for web developers

Web Authentication preview: Microsoft Edge now includes unprefixed support for the new Web Authentication API (a.k.a. WebAuthN). This evolves our previous support for the WebAuthN specification to enable the updated version of the API by default.

Web Authentication provides an open, scalable, and interoperable solution to facilitate authentication, which replaces passwords with stronger hardware-bound credentials. The implementation in Microsoft Edge allows users to use Windows Hello (via PIN or biometrics) and external authenticators like FIDO2 Security Keys or FIDO U2F Security Keys, to securely authenticate to websites. We’ll have more to share about Web Authentication in Microsoft Edge soon!

RSAT is now available on demand!

What does that mean? You no longer have to manually download RSAT every time you upgrade! Just go to “Manage optional features” in Settings (the fastest way there is to search for that) and click “Add a feature” – you’ll now see all of the RSAT components listed. Pick the ones you want, and the next time you upgrade Windows will automatically ensure all those components persist the upgrade (just like any of our other on-demand features, like speech resources or OpenSSH). Thanks to everyone who logged feedback asking for this! We’d love for you to try this out on today’s build and let us know what you think.

Showing Add Optional Features page in Settings will RSAT listed.

Note: The “Add an optional feature” page will take a long time to load the features the first time you go to the page. This is still a work in progress, and you may find that some of the RSAT components fail to install and/or launch. We are working to address this. If you do encounter installations issues, deleting this registry key may resolve them: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Servicing\LocalSourcePath.

Post-upgrade setup

You may see this window showing after you upgrade. Don’t worry – all your stuff is still there! We know some of you bought and setup your devices a long time ago – the features available in Windows have changed since then, so we’re giving you an opportunity to go through the setup questions you may have missed to ensure your device has the best setup possible. Click “Let’s Go” to go through those setup questions or click “Skip for now” if you want to go straight to your desktop. The conditions for showing this page are cloud programmable and may change over time.

Full screen setup window saying “Let’s make Windows even better – this shouldn’t affect what you’ve already set up.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed the issue for Windows Insider Program for Business folks where PCs using AAD accounts to receive new flights (via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program) where they would see a “Fix me” option presented and couldn’t to receive the latest flights.
  • We’re experimenting with adding tips and suggestions to the Settings homepage. If you see one of these, you can choose to opt out by clicking the “…” in the top corner.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some apps missing pinned and recent items when you right-clicked their icons in the taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer showing blank/generic icons for any file type associated with a UWP app.
  • We fixed an issue where Alt + Tab would sometimes unexpectedly have duplicate entries for app windows in recent flights.
  • We fixed a crash when asking Cortana to play any music in recent flights. This issue also impacted the ability to launch apps using voice commands.
  • We fixed an issue where if the taskbar jump list didn’t show (for example if you clicked away before it finished launching), the next time you watched a video full screen the taskbar would unexpectedly appear on top of the video.
  • We fixed an issue where you couldn’t scroll to the end of the clipboard items list (WIN + V) using mouse wheel/touchpad.
  • We fixed an issue where the wallpaper and app preview thumbnails were unexpectedly flipped when using Task View in Arabic or other bidirectional display languages.
  • Screen snipping (WIN + Shift + S, or other entry points) will now default to rectangular snipping. Your most recent mode selection (rectangular or freeform) is preserved across invocations, so you may not notice a change if you have already been using this experience.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the “Add a feature” page in Settings not finding any features in the last few builds.
  • We fixed an issue where text written using OTF fonts wouldn’t show up when printed.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some apps failing to launch recently with application error 0xc0000005 when certain antivirus software programs were installed.
  • We fixed an issue impacting certain touch-capable devices where all Bluetooth accessories would periodically stop working until the screen was touched.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some explorer.exe hangs when using Remote Desktop, projecting your screen, or having multiple monitors in recent flights. This issue may also have led to Microsoft Edge hangs.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in multiple Win32 apps and system components becoming unresponsive after waking from sleep in the last two flights.

Known issues

  • We’re working on adding dark theme in File Explorer and the Common File Dialog, but we still have some things to do. You may see some unexpectedly light colors in these surfaces when in dark mode.
  • After updating to this build, Mixed Reality Portal will reinstall the Mixed Reality Software and environment settings will not be preserved. If you need your Mixed Reality home experience to persist, we recommend skipping this build until these issues are fixed.
  • Some Insiders may find increased reliability and performance issues when launching Start on this build. We’re investigating.
  • Some Insiders may experience some bugchecks (GSOD) on this build with “Critical Process Died” error.
  • If you have a Surface Studio, it will fail to update to this build with a “Your PC hardware is not supported on this version of Windows 10” error.

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

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May 28

Fixed: Surface Book Camera not funtioning on Build 17677

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Updated to Insider Build 17677 on a Surface Book & Hello Face Recognition stops at couldn’t start camera?

These steps fix the issue:

  • right click start & select Device Manager
  • slide open Other Devices
  • right-click Video Controller (VGA Compatible) & select update driver
  • select search automatically for updated driver software

 

=> Intel VGA gets installed, Camera’s detected & installed, optional Nvidia VGA gets installed

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May 28

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17677

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4 days ago Microsoft released Build 17677 to the Fast Ring Insiders, pay attention to the 1st time sing in ‘almost there’ delay seemed way faster for me! Lots of nice tweaks to Edge!

 

What’s new in Build 17677

Microsoft Edge Improvements

New, clearer “Settings and more” (“…”) menu: We’ve redesigned the “Settings and more” menu in Microsoft Edge so it’s easier to find the options you’re looking for. The menu options are now organized into groups, with icons for each entry, and keyboard shortcuts (where applicable). Click the “…” button in the top-right corner of Microsoft Edge to see what’s new!

Screen capture showing the new Settings menu in Microsoft Edge, with icons and keyboard shortcuts visible.

See your top sites in the Jump List: You can now see your top sites in the Jump List on the Windows taskbar or Start Menu. Just right-click the Microsoft Edge icon to see a list of your most visited sites and pin the ones that matter most to you. Right-click on any entry to remove it from the list.

Organize the tabs you’ve set aside: We’re making it easier to organize the groups of tabs you’ve set aside, so you can remember what’s in each group when come back to it later. Once you’ve set a group of tabs aside, choose the “Tabs you’ve set aside” icon (top left corner), and click on the label for any group to rename it.

Screen capture showing the “Name these tabs” field in “Tabs you’ve set aside” in Microsoft Edge.

Do more from the “Downloads” pane: We’ve added options for “Show in folder” and “Copy link” to the right-click menu for downloads in the “Downloads” pane.

Screen capture showing right-click options on downloads in Microsoft

Narrator Improvements

Selection commands in Narrator Scan Mode: Narrator’s scan mode now supports selecting content in Microsoft Edge, Word, Outlook, Mail and most text surfaces. Standard shift- selection commands can be used as well as Control + A for the entire document. Caps + Shift + Down Arrow will speak the current selection. For a full list of selection commands, you can refer to Narrator’s Show Commands List by pressing Caps+F1. Once content is selected you can copy it to the clipboard by pressing Control + C. Formatting information will also be retained.

There is a known issue in Edge where selecting forward will get stuck. This issue is being worked on. Selection in general is a work in progress. We would love to hear your feedback as you try out these improvements. This link will take you to the Narrator section of the Feedback Hub, or you can press Caps + E while Narrator is running.

Kernel Debugging Improvements

We are adding support for IPv6 to KDNET. To make room for the larger headers required for IPv6, we’re decreasing the payload size of packets. As a result, we’re declaring a new version of the protocol, so that host PCs running the latest version of the debugger can be used to debug target PCs that only support IPv4. An updated SDK and WDK will be released soon with this support. There is a version of WinDbg Preview available at http://aka.ms/windbgpreview today. Follow the Debugging Tools for Windows blog for updates on KDNET IPv6 support and documentation in the future.

Task Manager Memory Reporting Improvements

We are making a small change in how memory used by suspended UWP apps/processes appears in Task Manager. Going forward, the main memory column in Task Manager “Processes” tab will not include memory used by suspended UWP processes. This is to more accurately reflect the OS behavior in which the OS can reclaim memory used by suspended UWP processes if needed. This means that if you have several UWP processes suspended in the background, the OS can take back memory from these suspended UWP processes if needed and use it for something that requires more memory. New and old memory columns will be available in “Details” tab for you to do comparisons if you want.

Mobile Broadband (LTE) connectivity on Windows gets a makeover

Windows is transforming the networking stack after 20 years through the NetAdapter framework. This framework introduces a new, more reliable, network driver model that inherits the goodness of the Windows driver framework while bringing an accelerated data path. More details coming soon.

We introduced the new and improved Mobile Broadband USB class driver based on the NetAdapter framework in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17655. We also shared instructions around  how you can try out this latest non-default driver. Starting with this build, the MBB USB NetAdapter driver becomes the default driver. To try this out – install this build on a PC that relies on mobile broadband for cellular connectivity and setup cellular connectivity and turn off Wi-fi.

In case of issues using the driver, fall back on Wi-Fi or ethernet adapters for connectivity.

Don’t forget to report issues, Use Feedback Hub on your PC and set Category and subcategory as Network and Internet > Connecting to a cellular network. Use [cxwmbclass] in the summary. We look forward to your continued support!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue causing Narrator to read extra text when invoking Alt + Tab.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Chinese and Japanese characters not rendering correctly in Command Prompt.
  • We fixed an issue where double-clicking text in Command Prompt only selected up to the first punctuation mark, not up to the space.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the Home and End keys not working in Microsoft Edge in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a high volume of reliability issues in any XAML surface using Reveal in the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some apps like Adobe XD from crashing on launch in recent flights.
  • When you press F1 in Microsoft Edge it will now take you to the Microsoft Edge support page, rather than Microsoft Edge tips.
  • When a tab in Microsoft Edge is playing audio, the volume icon in the tab will now light up when you hover your mouse over it.
  • When you open local files (like PDFs) in Microsoft Edge, those files will now appear in the History section.
  • We fixed an issue where downloading files in Microsoft Edge could appear stuck on doing the security scan.
  • We fixed a recent issue where Ctrl + Shift + Left to select backwards in Notepad wouldn’t work at the end of a line.
  • When you execute “start cmd” from a Command Prompt window, a new Command Prompt tab will now be created if you have Sets enabled. This will also work for other start launches, like “start notepad”. To start something in a new window you can use the new /newwindow flag, for example “start /newwindow notepad”.
  • We fixed the issue that was preventing users from enabling Developer Mode through the For developers settings page.

Known issues

  • Important note for Windows Insider Program for Business folks: If you use your AAD account to receive new flights (via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program) there is an issue causing the “Fix me” option to be presented which unfortunately will not work and you will not be able to receive the latest flights. We’re working to fix this as soon as possible in an upcoming build. 
  • We’re working on adding dark theme in File Explorer and the Common File Dialog, but we still have some things to do. You may see some unexpectedly light colors in these surfaces when in dark mode.
  • Insiders who use Remote Desktop, project their screen, or have multiple monitors may experience explorer.exe hangs on this build. This issue can also lead to Microsoft Edge hangs.
  • If you right-click apps in the taskbar you may find that the jump list is missing pinned and recent items.
  • After update, Mixed Reality Portal will reinstall the Mixed Reality Software and as a result environment setting will not be preserved. If you need your Mixed Reality home experience to persist it is advised you not take this build until these issues are fixed.

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

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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

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Apr 27

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

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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

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Apr 23

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17650 for Skip Ahead

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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

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Apr 17

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17134 for Fast

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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

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Apr 09

GDPR & Office 365

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

 

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Mar 19

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

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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)

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Mar 05

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17112 for Fast Ring

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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

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