Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161

Hi all! Wednesday, a few hours later than usually, Microsoft Released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. (used to be the Fast Ring)

Lots of new fun stuff, Start Menu looks awesome with the refreshed layout!
not: you might not get the feature right away it is in the build but enabled gradually among Insider in de Dev Channel. Even 2 new Quests in the Feedback Hub, Upgrades went smooth here, couple of issues that pointed out quite quickly:

  • On Surface Laptop Gen1 this Build disables the use of the keyboard, luckily a USB keyboard works fine 😉 FeedbackHub Item
  • Twitter App buttons are not working on a 150% DPI-scaled monitor FeedbackHub Item

What’s new in Build 20161

Theme-aware tiles in Start

We are freshening up the Start menu with a more streamlined design that removes the solid color backplates behind the logos in the apps list and applies a uniform, partially transparent background to the tiles. This design creates a beautiful stage for your apps, especially the Fluent Design icons for Office and Microsoft Edge, as well as the redesigned icons for built-in apps like Calculator, Mail, and Calendar that we started rolling out earlier this year.

Before and After: Windows 10 Start menu in dark theme.

This refined Start design looks great in both dark and light theme, but if you’re looking for a splash of color, first make sure to turn on Windows dark theme and then toggle “Show accent color on the following surfaces” for “Start, taskbar, and action center” under Settings > Personalization > Color to elegantly apply your accent color to the Start frame and tiles.

Windows 10 Start menu in dark theme.
Windows 10 Start menu in light theme.
Windows 10 Start menu in colorful theme.

Want the amazing desktop background shown in the screenshot above? Download our ‘Pride 2020 Flags’ theme from the Microsoft Store!

ALT + TAB between apps and sites

Are you a multitasker? We have exciting news for you! Beginning with today’s build, all tabs open in Microsoft Edge will start appearing in Alt + TAB, not just the active one in each browser window. We’re making this change so you can quickly get back to whatever you were doing—wherever you were doing it.

All tabs open in Microsoft Edge will start appearing in Alt + TAB!

If you’d prefer fewer tabs or the classic Alt + TAB experience, we’ve added some settings for you under Settings > System > Multitasking. You can configure Alt + Tab to only show your last three or five tabs or choose to turn this feature off completely.

This feature is currently rolling out to a subset of Insiders today in the Dev Channel and requires a Canary or Dev build of Microsoft Edge (version 83.0.475.0 or higher).

This is just the beginning of productivity enhancements coming to Microsoft Edge—stay tuned!

A more personalized Taskbar for new users

We want to help customers get the most out of their PCs from day one, and that starts with offering a cleaner, more personalized, out-of-box experience to give you the content you want and less clutter. This provides us with a flexible, cloud-driven infrastructure to test customer reception of default Taskbar content and tailor these layouts based on user and device signal.

We will evaluate the performance of individual default properties, monitoring diagnostic data and user feedback to assess an audience’s reception. Using this information, we will tune default layouts to minimize clutter and perceptions of bloatware.

Please note that this experience is limited to new account creation or first logon scenarios. We will not use Programmable Taskbar to alter the Taskbar layout on existing accounts.

Tailored default Taskbars for different users.

Improving the notification experience

We are making some changes to improve the notifications experience in Windows 10.

First, know where your toast is coming from by checking out the app logo at the top. Done with the notification? Select the X on the top right corner to quickly dismiss and move on with your life.

Notification toast with app logo at the top and X on the top right corner to quickly dismiss.

And second, we are turning off the Focus Assist notification and summary toast by default, so we will no longer let users know that Focus Assist has been turned on through an automatic rule via a notification. This can be changed back to the previous behavior via Settings.

Making Settings even better

We’re continuing to work on bringing capabilities from Control Panel forward into Settings. As part of this ongoing effort, we are migrating information found in Control Panel’s System page into the Settings About page under Settings > System > About. Links that would open the System page in Control Panel will now direct you to About in Settings. We are also bringing new improvements like making your device information copyable and streamlining the security information shown. And don’t worry—if you’re looking for more advanced controls that lived in the System page in Control Panel, you can still get to them from the modern About page if you need them!

Device information is now copyable and security information is streamlined under Settings > System > About.

There will be more improvements coming that will further bring Settings closer to Control Panel. If you rely on settings that only exist in Control Panel today, please file feedback and let us know what those settings are.

Improving the tablet experience for 2-in-1 devices

Previously, when detaching the keyboard on a 2-in-1 device, a notification toast would appear asking if you wanted to switch into tablet mode. If you selected yes, you would switch into tablet mode. If you chose no, it would give you the new tablet posture experience introduced in the May 2020 Update (or simply the desktop on earlier versions of Windows 10). We are further updating this experience by changing the default, so that this notification toast no longer appears and instead will switch you directly into the new tablet experience, with some improvements for touch. You can change this setting by going to Settings > System > Tablet. Some users may have already seen this change on Surface devices.

And to address confusion with some users getting stuck in tablet mode on non-touch devices, we are removing the tablet mode quick action on non-touch devices.

In addition, new logic is incorporated to let users boot into the appropriate mode according to the mode they were last in and whether the keyboard is attached or not.

Other updates for Insiders

Windows Calculator graphing mode feature now rolling out to the public

We are happy to announce that the graphing mode feature we released to Insiders in January is now rolling out to the general public! Adding support for graphing was one of our top feature requests, so we’re excited to bring this feature to our users. Graphing capabilities are also essential for students who are beginning to explore linear algebra. With this feature, we hope to empower students to learn mathematics by improving their conceptual understanding and attitudes towards math.

Windows Calculator showing multiple equations with variables plotted on the graph as the variables update live.

Key features

  • Plot one or more equations on the graph. Enter multiple equations so that you can compare plots against each other and see interactions between the lines.
  • Add equations with variables. If you enter equations with variables (e.g., y = mx + b), you’ll be able to update the value of those variables to see the changes live on the graph.
  • Analyze the graph. Trace plots with your mouse or keyboard and analyze equations to help identify key graph features, like the x- and y-intercepts.
Windows Calculator showing multiple equations in dark theme.

Since we released the feature in preview earlier this year, we’ve made lots of improvements based on your feedback in Feedback Hub and on GitHub, like introducing a brand new dark theme graph and more line customization options, adding error handling for when you try to plot an equation that isn’t quite right, and improving the overall experience when tracing or plotting multiple equations at the same time.

Thank you for your feedback and helping to make this feature better for everyone! You must have the Windows 10 May 2020 update and the latest version of Windows Calculator to access this feature.

Fixes

  • We fixed an issue resulting in Insiders experiencing bug checks when connecting and interacting with an Xbox controller.
  • We’ve fixed an issue causing some games and applications to crash at launch or fail to install.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge not navigating to websites when WDAG was enabled on the last 2 flights.
  • We fixed an issue which was increasing log off time in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue with the Chinese Pinyin IME where after setting your preferred IME toolbar orientation, you may not be able to change it again after rebooting your PC.
  • We fixed an issue causing Reset this PC to always show the error “There was a problem resetting this PC” when launched from Settings in the last few builds.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Bluetooth devices no longer showing their battery level in Settings in the last few builds.
  • We fixed an issue where Settings would crash if you went to Settings > Privacy > Microphone while a win32 app was recording audio.
  • We fixed an issue where if Sound Settings showed “no input devices found” in the input dropdown and you clicked it, then Settings would crash.
  • We fixed an issue where when adding a printer, the dialog might crash if you navigated through to the “Add a printer driver” dialog in recent builds.
  • We fixed a graphics related issue resulting in some users experiencing bugchecks.

Known issues

  • We’re working on a fix for an issue causing some systems to crash with a HYPERVISOR_ERROR bugcheck.
  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re aware of an issue where Notepad might fail to reopen files which were automatically saved during a PC restart (if that option is enabled in Settings). Documents can be recovered from %localappdata%\Notepad.We’re investigating reports of the screen becoming dimmer after upgrading to the previous build.
  • We’re aware of an issue where Task Manager reports 0.00 GHz CPU usage in the Performance tab.
  • We’re investigating reports that when you press space while using the Korean IME in certain apps, the last character is deleted.
  • We’re working to fine tune the tile animations in Start to avoid flashes of color.
  • For Insiders with the new Alt+Tab experience mentioned above, please note that the setting under Settings > System > Multitasking to set Alt+Tab to “Open windows only” currently doesn’t work.

source: Windows Blogs

New Insider Channels, Now Showing In Settings

They’re here the Dev, Beta & Release Preview Channels

Like announced on June 15th, the Insider program has changed from rings to channels.

Table for mapping the new Channels: Fast ring will become the Dev Channel, the Slow ring will become the Beta Channel, and the Release Preview ring will become the Release Preview Channel.

Opening Windows Insider Program in settings now shows your current Channel, no need to re-select it, your ring is automatically migrated to the correct channel.

Settings / Update & Security / Windows Insider

Selecting the Channel gives you there choices now:

Settings / Update & Security / Windows Insider / Channel

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20152

Hi all! Last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20152 to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel (Fast ring).

Upgrading is fast & smooth again om all my devices, the prefomance lag that happened in 20150 seems fixed, running fine again.

Bluetooth headsets still are a bit strange on this build but if anything starts acting up just repair the device for now 😉

Fixes

  • We fixed an issue that could result in Notepad unexpectedly being removed after resetting your PC. If you were impacted by this, you can reinstall Notepad via Optional Features in Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where the “Windows needs space to continue” dialog might have told you to select Continue but no Continue button was displayed.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the Windows Update icon unexpectedly not appearing in the notification area of the taskbar when an update was ready for reboot.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in an IME typing as if it was ON, when it was actually in OFF state, and tapping the IME mode indicator in the taskbar wouldn’t change the mode.

Known issues

  • We’re working on a fix for an issue causing some systems to crash with a HYPERVISOR_ERROR bugcheck.
  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re aware of an issue where Notepad might fail to reopen files which were automatically saved during a PC restart (if that option is enabled in Settings). Documents can be recovered from %localappdata%\Notepad.
  • Some Insiders may experience a bugcheck and rollback when attempting to update to this build if an Xbox controller is connected to your device. You may see error code 0xc1900101 in Windows Update History. To work around the issue, disconnect or unpair the Xbox controller to successfully update. (Please note that reconnecting the controller after the update will result in a bugcheck.)
  • Starting with the last build, some games and applications may crash at launch or fail to install. We’ve identified the root cause and are working on a fix for a future flight.
  • We’re investigating reports of the screen becoming dimmer after upgrading to the previous build.
  • We’re aware of an issue where Task Manager reports 0.00 GHz CPU usage in the Performance tab.
  • We’re working on a fix for an issue causing Reset this PC to always show the error “There was a problem resetting this PC” when launched from Settings. To work around the issue, use Advanced Startup (Windows RE) to start Reset this PC.

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20150

Hello All, Last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20150 to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel (Fast ring). yes the new naming is starting to be used, in settings you’ll still see Fast Rng, this will most lightly be changed in one of the upcoming builds

Downloading & installing went smooth & fast on my devices, 1st experince with a build above the 20k build 🙂

1st impression does feel a bit slower than the previous builds, high CPU loads are quite common on tis build it seems.

Bluetooth audio acted a bit weird just after upgrading, seems to fix itself if you’re patient, if not reconnect the Bluetooth device

Enjoy upgrading!

What’s new in Build 20150

Three new Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) features: GPU compute, WSL install, and WSL update

This build contains three new exciting WSL features. The first is GPU compute: a feature that allows your Linux binaries to leverage your GPU, which makes it possible to do more machine learning development and data science workflows directly in WSL. Secondly, we’ve added a new command: `wsl –install` which allows you to install WSL with just one command. Lastly, we’ve added `wsl –update` which gives you the ability to easily manage the Linux kernel version used by WSL 2 distros. To view a summary of these announcements please read this post on the Windows Command line blog, and for in-depth details on GPU compute in WSL please read this post on the Windows Developer blog.

A TensorFlow Docker container running an ML training script inside WSL 2 along with Task Manager showing GPU activity.

Other updates for Insiders

Updating the map data in the Maps app

Earlier this month, the Bing Maps Team announced they’ve started gradually rolling out the new TomTom base map data to Bing Maps and Microsoft first party products. As part of this process, we’re slowly updating the Maps app for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel (Fast ring) to use the new map data from TomTom. We’re asking Insiders to submit feedback on any issues they see as a result of this change directly from the Maps app by selecting Suggest a change at the lower right corner of the app.

General changes & improvements

  • With this week’s build, we’ll be starting to roll out the new search box on the default app settings pages. As part of this, we’ve done some work to improve the performance of the search box.
  • The new Korean IME is now available again for Insiders to use.
  • Based on feedback, we’re updating the text of the Settings > Privacy > Location page to clarify that the icon displayed when your location is being used will be displayed in the taskbar.

Fixes

  • We fixed an issue resulting in Visual Studio windows not consistently accepting clicks.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where the Documents and Downloads sections in Settings > Privacy was showing a broken icon next to their name (just a rectangle).
  • We fixed an issue where, if you paused Windows Update while a new build was downloading and then closed Settings, when you reopened Settings the Windows Update page may appear blank.
  • We fixed an issue where updates made when editing VPN networks in Settings might not persist.
  • We fixed an issue where the copy button under Settings > Network & Internet-Status > Properties wasn’t actually copying the content to the clipboard.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the data usage number in Network & Internet Settings not displaying correctly in Japanese if the data usage was less than 1 MB.
  • We fixed a crash some Insiders were experiencing when opening Sound Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where the Optimize Drives window position wasn’t preserved on elevation.
  • We fixed a typo in the group policies under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Component > File Explorer > Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the On-Screen Keyboard no longer displaying text predictions.
  • We fixed an issue where double-clicking a OneDrive file in File Explorer might unexpectedly show a notification saying, “Windows Defender SmartScreen is downloading from OneDrive.”
  • We fixed an issue where Resource Monitor could end up showing CPU usage at more than 100 percent.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in qaa-Latn unexpectedly appearing in your list of keyboards after upgrading.
  • We fixed an issue where, with multiple input methods, typing in your password incorrectly on the login screen would result in your keyboard changing back to your default input method (if that’s not what you were typing with).
  • We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard space bar label would disappear when pressing it while using Japanese curve-flick input in abc mode.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in your browser not launching in the foreground after selecting a web link from another app.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Search not accepting typed input.
  • We fixed an issue where, if pinned to Start, the Windows Security app tile would be missing an icon when the tile was medium sized.
  • We’ve made some updates to improve performance of the Windows Security app if there are a large number of detections.
  • We fixed a few issues that could result in your PC bugchecking.

Known issues

  • We’re working on a fix for an issue causing some systems to crash with a HYPERVISOR_ERROR bugcheck.
  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re aware of an issue where Notepad might fail to reopen files which were automatically saved during a PC upgrade (or restart, if enabled in Settings). Documents can be recovered from %localappdata%\Notepad.

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19645

Hi All, today Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19645 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Taskbar Icons are fixed, looks like download progress also got an improvement, my 1st 3 devices did not get stuck at 12% Downloading 🙂

Other updates for Insiders

Your Phone app’s audio controls feature now rolling out to the public

The audio controls functionality announced in April is now rolling out to the general public. This feature lets you control your music and audio apps from the Your Phone app. Now you can access and control the audio apps playing from your phone directly within the app, without needing to split your attention between devices or breaking your workflow. Your audio tracks will stay in sync between your phone and PC, and you can switch between multiple sources using the dropdown in the player.

Please make sure you have the latest versions of Your Phone Companion and the Your Phone app to experience this feature.

General changes & improvements

  • We changed the servicing model for the Linux kernel inside of Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 distributions. This build includes this change to remove the Linux kernel from the Windows image, and instead have it be serviced via Microsoft Update, the same way that 3rd party drivers (like graphics, or touchpad drivers) are installed and updated on your machine today. For full details please read this blog post on the Windows Command Line blog and for information about the kernel version please view the kernel docs page here.
  • Support for Nested Virtualization on AMD processors is now available. Being an early release we recommend you read this blog post for details on what platforms currently work as well as how to enable the feature.

Fixes

  • We’ve fixed an issue where some devices booting from eMMC storage bugchecked when resuming from hibernate.
  • We fixed multiple Japanese and Chinese IME issues that impacted IME mode switching within applications and Windows notification area.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where taskbar preview thumbnails weren’t rendering consistently (showing a blank area).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the handwriting input panel not appearing in certain text fields after being tapped with a pen.
  • We fixed an issue where resizing a snapped application in tablet mode would minimize the app to the taskbar instead of adjusting the app size.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Hello Setup would crash if facial recognition was already set up and you chose the Improve Recognition button.
  • We fixed an issue for some users where your PC wouldn’t recognize it when you inserted a smart card (event log showing error 621).

Known issues

  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re working on fixing an issue for a future Insider Preview build where in Settings > Privacy, the Documents and Downloads sections show a broken icon next to their page name (just a rectangle).

source: Windows Blogs

Grabbing Windows 10 2004 – Device Not Ready?

Trying to get the new 2004 Build on you device & running in to this screen on your updates?

‘Your device isn’t quite ready’

This means there’s a reason to temporarily block you from getting the new build. (This is good! You’ve just been saved from possible compatibility issues with your current setup)

These reasons are listed here: Windows 10 Release Health (tip: on the page hit CTRL+F & look for hold)

What should you do?

  • Option A (recommended): Get all your drivers & software updated to be sure you get the build as soon as possible & wait for the fixed drivers or patches from Microsoft
  • Option B (if you feel like taking a risk): Head over to the Update Assistant or media creation tool this will upgrade your build but you will be taking the risk to run into one of the earlier listed issues, so if you’re taking this road, make sure you read through the possible issues you might be facing 1st.

In both cases, keep an eye on the Windows 10 Release Health page for fixes & Workarounds, as soon as your hold reason is fixed it will be updates to a Mitigated state.

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19640

Hello Windows Insiders, Last Wednesdays Microsoft Released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19640 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

All Smooth upgrades her except 1 device had some strange 100% CPU load on the 1st logon, non-responsive taskbar, fixed after restarting explorer.exe

Happy Upgrading!!

General changes & improvements

  • Based on feedback, if your Downloads folder is synced to a cloud provider, we are disabling the option to have Storage Sense automatically clear out your Downloads folder on a cycle.
  • We updated our login logic, so if your PC is set up so you need to type in your username when logging in, accidentally starting your username with a space will no longer result in an error.

Known issues

  • We’re looking into an issue where some devices booting from eMMC storage bugchecked when resuming from hibernate.
  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re working on fixing an issue for a future Insider Preview build where in Settings > Privacy, the Documents and Downloads sections show a broken icon next to their page name (just a rectangle).
  • We’re looking into reports that taskbar preview thumbnails aren’t rendering consistently (showing a blank area).

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19635

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19635 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Another smooth upgrade here, some minor tweaks a fixes, insiders are running smooth 😉

Fixes

  • We fixed an issue resulting in the apostrophes in the Location not available dialog, Mount File dialog, and File Explorer folder options text not being displayed correctly.
  • We fixed an issue where the Work or School account > Allow Windows Search to provide… toggle under Search Settings could be unexpectedly disabled.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in cellular data not working on certain devices.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Settings crashing when changing display orientation or resolution.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders seeing a large number of “Program Compatibility Assistant Service stopped working” critical events in Reliability Monitor.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in constant display flashing on certain devices.
  • We fixed an issue with the camera on certain devices showing unexpected artifacts.

Known issues

  • We’re looking into an issue where some devices booting from eMMC storage may bugcheck when resuming from hibernate.
  • We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
  • We’re working on fixing an issue for a future Insider Preview build where in Settings > Privacy the Documents and Downloads sections show a broken icon next to their page name (just a rectangle).
  • We’re looking into reports that taskbar preview thumbnails aren’t rendering consistently (showing a blank area).

source: Windows Blogs

Cool Windows 10 Feature: Search With Screenshot

A new option in taskbar search, also available in the recently released 2004 Version of Windows 10 ‘Search with a screenshot’ integrates Bing Visual Search with Snip & Sketch

This enables you to quickly grab a snip of something on your screen and look it up on the internet.

Click or Tap in the ‘Type here to search’ box on your taskbar
Click or Tap the ‘Search wit a screenshot’ button in the right lower corner of search
1st time this notification will appear
As demo I used the snip & sketch interface that shows up to grab this picture of a GIF from my screen
a few seconds later I knew this person is Nick Jonas

This really is a timesaver go ahead an give it a try whenever you need more info on an image on your screen

#MSBuild: WinGet – Windows Command Line App Installer

At Build Microsoft released their own package repo accessible from any device to facilitate easy deployment of packages & applications

How do you get this on your device?

Step 1

Open the Windows Store to grab your copy of App Installer

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/app-installer/9nblggh4nns1?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

If you already have it installed make sure you get it updated to the latest version (1.0.41331.0 or higher)

Step 2

Fire up a PowerShell window & run Winget Show to list all available packages

The 1st time I ran this on May 19th, the listing had 146 packages, only 2 days later…

Today May 21st we’re up to 194!

[Edit September 5th]

September 5th almost 1000 apps ready to deploy

Example: to install Power Toys

run WinGet install ‘Power Toys’

Easy!

The build in search option make sit easier to find the package you need n this rapid growing repo

Enjoy!

Windows Packet Manager on Github

WinGet info on MSDocs