Mar 02

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18348 (Fast Ring)

Hi All, yesterday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18348 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. builds are following up faster as we are getting closer to 19H1 release, make sure to test the new emoji 12.0 search it’s awesome!

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s New in Build 18348

Emoji 12.0 Update

With Build Build 18277, Insiders got their first look at the Emoji 12.0 emoji. In early February, the set of emoji to be included with Emoji 12.0 was finalized by Unicode, and with today’s build when you press WIN+(period) or WIN+(semicolon), all of these emoji now have keywords hooked up to make them easy to search for. Try it once you install the build! Keywords include otter, sloth, waffle, ballet shoes, and more.

Showing the emoji picker, with a search for “ice” which has 7 results, one of which is “ice cube” (new emoji)

If you haven’t tried it already, be sure to also check out our new Kaomoji and Symbols section in the picker – makes it super easy to type things like (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ or em dash!

Showing the three sections of the picker – emoji, kaomoji and symbols

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We’ve made some adjustments to improve WIN+(period) reliability.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu not launching if the GPO to turn off the all apps list in Start was enabled.
  • We fixed an issue where the default Microsoft Word web tile pinned to Start (in the case where Office wasn’t installed) was unexpectedly launching Microsoft Edge in inPrivate mode.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge sometimes crashing when editing or tabbing through PDFs.
  • We’ve made a change to improve cloud clipboard (if enabled) sync reliability.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the lock screen unexpectedly not dismissing until Ctrl+Alt+Del was pressed.
  • We fixed an issue where if high contrast mode was enabled during Windows setup, that state wouldn’t persist first logon.
  • Note: We’re rolling back the new Settings header from 100% to 50% of Insiders on Home and non-domain joined Pro edition PCs. This is so we can have a side by side comparison to help evaluate quality in both on and off state. We’ll let you know when the rollout increases again.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator continuous reading in Edge did not keep the text cursor at the position where reading was started from.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator Scan mode down arrow navigation might get stuck when reading in Chrome.
  • In Windows Sandbox, Settings app no longer crashes when you navigate to the Narrator settings.

Known issues

  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
  • We’re continuing to investigate reported issues in the night light space.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in.
  • If you use third party apps to adjust the color of your screen, we’ve made a fix with this build to address feedback that certain apps were no longer working. We’re continuing to investigate feedback in this space.
  • For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page.
  • We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working.
  • We’re investigating an issue where region settings are being reset on upgrade for some Insiders.

source: Windows Blogs

Mar 02

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18845 (Skip Ahead)

Hello All, Thursday night Microsoft released the 20H1 Build 18845 to Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. Love the new easy emoji 12.0 search!

Remember – these builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1.

IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle.

What’s New in Build 18845

Emoji 12.0 Update

With Build 18277, Insiders got their first look at the Emoji 12.0 emoji. In early February, the set of emoji to be included with Emoji 12.0 was finalized by Unicode, and with today’s build when you press WIN+(period) or WIN+(semicolon), all of these emoji now have keywords hooked up to make them easy to search for. Try it once you install the build! Keywords include otter, sloth, waffle, ballet shoes, and more.

Showing the emoji picker, with a search for “ice” which has 7 results, one of which is “ice cube” (new emoji)

If you haven’t tried it already, be sure to also check out our new Kaomoji and Symbols section in the picker – makes it super easy to type things like (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ or em dash!

Showing the three sections of the picker – emoji, kaomoji and symbols

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue which would cause the Bluetooth Hands-Free audio driver to hang.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to access the Quests section of the Feedback Hub.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a decrease in Start menu reliability in the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge crashing on launch for some Insiders in the previous flight.
  • We’ve made some small tweaks to make the help icon in File Explorer look a bit better when dark theme is enabled.
  • We fixed an issue where in certain languages if you pressed WIN+V before having opted into clipboard history the clipboard history UI would be truncated.
  • We fixed an issue with the new Adlam keyboard resulting in not being able to type certain common words.
  • We fixed an issue where, when typing Vietnamese, the touch keyboard was auto-capitalizing every word in certain apps.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in unexpected flickering if you used pen or touch in certain win32 apps to launch a second instance of the app when in tablet mode.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in DWM crashing after enabling high contrast.
  • We fixed an issue where, when friendly dates were enabled in File Explorer, in certain languages (such as Japanese and Chinese) Insiders would see the wrong day name displayed.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected and non-functional Family Safety icon in the notification area of the taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the taskbar search box text becoming black on a black background.
  • We fixed an issue where Start menu would crash when using Narrator to navigate pinned folders in Start.

Known issues

  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Please note that while we’ve made some improvements to night light reliability in this flight, we’re continuing to investigate reported issues in this space.
  • For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes.
  • Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in.
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

source: Windows Blogs

Feb 26

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18836 & 18841

In the last weeks Microsoft has released the 2 1st builds of 20H1 for users on the skip ahead update ring. These builds are from the 20H1 development branch. 20H1? not 19H2? here’s why:

“Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1.”

Running smooth for now, only thing I ran into up to now is a 2 sec black screen when switching to battery saver. Enjoy upgrading & testing!

IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on.
  • We fixed an issue where turning off Location from the Action Center might take multiple clicks to react.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in being unable to re-arrange pinned folders in Start’s tile grid.
  • We fixed an issue where newly installed apps might not show up in search results.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to open Cortana when in Tablet Mode.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight where right-clicking the desktop would bring up a light colored context menu in dark theme.
  • We’re updating the name of the “Windows Light” theme to now be “Windows (light)”.
  • We fixed an issue where Cortana’s icon on secondary monitors wouldn’t update colors after switching between light and dark theme.
  • We fixed an issue where when using light theme + small icons + a vertical taskbar orientation, text written on the taskbar would stay white and thus wouldn’t be readable.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in open apps not being shown on the taskbar (but being visible in Alt + Tab).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in build unable to log into WinRE with an admin account in the last couple of flights.
  • We’ve made another fix to address reports of devices getting stuck with “Hibernating…” text on the screen on resume from hibernate.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in greys having an unexpected slight pinkish/purple-ish tinge on some devices in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade.
  • We fixed an issue where the Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly.
  • The issue impacting Creative X-Fi sound cards has been fixed. It’s not fixed.
  • [ADDED 2/15] We added the ability for users to access Linux files in a WSL distro from Windows. These files can be accessed through the command line, and also Windows apps, like File Explorer, VSCode, etc. can interact with these files. Access your files by navigating to \\wsl$\<distro_name>, or see a list of running distributions by navigating to \\wsl$.
  • [ADDED 2/15] We improved the capabilities of the wsl.exe command line interface, by adding new features such as importing and exporting distros and consolidating existing features from wslconfig.exe, such as listing distros and setting defaults.

Known issues

  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space.
  • When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • File Explorer may hang when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files.
  • In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes.
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

source: Windows Blogs

Feb 10

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18334

Hi all, Weekend treat for Insiders on Fast or Skip Ahead, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18334 (19H1), combined with a Game preview test State of Decay!

other good news, the invisible taskbar items has been fixed yay!

REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18334

Help gaming on Windows and play State of Decay!

We’re excited to bring technology tailor-made for gaming to Windows. Help us validate these systems work as expected, and play State of Decay for free (limited time only!). Just tell us about any problems you encounter with installing and launching the game.

Note: we only have a small number of available slots currently, so don’t wait too long to sign up. But if you don’t get in this time, don’t worry, we’ll be expanding over the next few weeks so you’ll have more chances. Thanks for making Windows gaming better!

Instructions:

  • If you have an Xbox Live Gamertag, go to step 2 below. If you don’t have a Gamertag, use your Microsoft Account (MSA) to log into https://account.xbox.com and create an Xbox account. Once completed, you will see your Gamertag in the top right of the page.
  • Install the Xbox Insider Hub app on the PC you’ll be flighting on (link opens in Store app).
  • Sign in to the Xbox Insider Hub with your Gamertag.
  • Select Insider Content in the upper left.
  • Select State of Decay.
  • Click Join.
  • If not redirected, click the Show in store button to launch the Store app.
  • Install the State of Decay test game to your machine from the Store app
  • Launch State of Decay and try it out! NOTE: State of Decay is rated M for Mature.
    1. As part of the game launch, you’ll be prompted to install DirectX. This is for testing purposes, so go ahead and do the install, and the game will launch afterwards.
  • If you find any issues with the install, or if the game fails to launch, please file a Feedback Hub bug under the Microsoft Store category (pick Download or Install depending on your issue), and include WindowsGamingFeedback in the title.

Known issues:

  • BattleEye software (used by Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and other popular games) does not work correctly with builds flighted to the Windows Insider Fast ring since December. If you have a PC that is not already enrolled in Windows Insider Fast, and you play games that use BattleEye software, we recommend you don’t join Windows Insider Fast on that PC.
  • If you don’t have access to the State of Decay test game, be sure to use the same Microsoft Account (MSA) and Gamertag for the Xbox Insider hub and the Microsoft Store app.
  • If you experience an error related to DirectX, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following:
    • Launch the game again. This should trigger the DirectX installer to run which should fix any issues caused by previous install failures.
    • If the above doesn’t work, uninstall State of Decay by right-clicking Start, selecting Apps and Features, and then selecting Uninstall for the State of Decay entry. Then try the download and install again.
    • If you continue to see the same error even after the steps above, you can also try downloading and installing DirectX manually: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109
  • If the Install button in the Store doesn’t work, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following:
    • Restart your PC and try the install again.
    • If the above, doesn’t work, click Start, search for ‘wsreset’ and run that command, then try the install again.
  • There is an intro video that plays at the start of the State of Decay test game which is squeezed into a thin line on left side of screen. Please ignore this issue; the game works fine once the title screen appears.
  • If you have a Microsoft Account on your machine which is a Child account and have Parental Controls turned on for that account, the State of Decay test game won’t install. We are investigating a fix for this in a forthcoming Windows flight.
  • You can install and run the State of Decay test game in a Virtual Machine (VM) if you aren’t able to test on real hardware; the download and install will work fine, but you will experience slow performance when running the game itself. Note: downloading and installing is still very helpful to find issues!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a recent increase in taskbar icons becoming blank.
  • We fixed an issue where your cursor color and size settings wouldn’t persist upgrade.
  • We fixed an issue where hardware keyboard text prediction settings wouldn’t persist upgrade.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing when going to Color Filters.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Sign-in Settings crashing recently under certain conditions.
  • We fixed an issue where changing the state of the Hey Cortana toggle in Settings wouldn’t stick.
  • We fixed an issue where the Cortana section of Settings was visible in regions where Cortana wasn’t supported.
  • We fixed an issue where the icons and text in the new Settings header were misaligned an certain window sizes.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected blank space in the navigation pane in Privacy Settings.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft David speaking when previewing voices under Settings > Time & Language > Speech, regardless of which actual voice was selected.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected double spaces when listing the active hours under Windows Update Settings.
  • When you set focus to search the search box will now have an accent colored border.
  • We fixed an issue where the Search box in the taskbar was no longer dark when dark mode was enabled.
  • We fixed an issue where recent activities in Search would use a white icon in light theme even if a dark icon was available.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu resetting back to default on reboot for some users.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Shutdown and Restart options in Start’s power menu not showing up in a remote desktop session.
  • We fixed an issue where having Cortana open would result in an invisible File Explorer window being shown as open in the taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected “The item you selected is unavailable” errors when interacting with jump list list items.
  • We fixed an issue where explorer.exe would crash if you shared a file via Nearby Sharing and then turned off Nearby Sharing.
  • We fixed an issue where the File Explorer title bar would blend into black backgrounds when dark theme was enabled.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in an error when extracting files on the last 2 flights.
  • We fixed an issue where attempting to set default file association for a filetype that was not explicitly declared as supported by a Win32 app would fail.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in mouse lag when certain XAML dropdowns were open.
  • We fixed an issue where unzipping files would throw an error.
  • We fixed an issue where when files were grouped by date, files that were actually downloaded last month would say “A long time ago” if it was January and the files were downloaded in December.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some apps not going full screen properly if the app started from being snapped to the side of the screen. This issue also resulted in the taskbar appearing on top of full screen videos in this scenario, and could result in apps slowly shifting offscreen if repeatedly toggle between snapped and fullscreen.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some languages not being able to type in UWP apps recently – Buginese, Friulian, and Gothic were among those impacted.
  • We fixed an issue impacting the Japanese IME in certain apps, like Microsoft Teams, where if you tried to finalize a converted string by typing, the converted string would disappear.
  • We fixed two issues impacting the ability to adjust brightness in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in notifications unexpectedly being drawn at the wrong scale fact (too large, or too small).
  • We fixed an issue where the value in Narrator Settings “Change the level of detail Narrator provides about text and control” might be empty.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox may launch to a black screen for some users.
  • Narrator now announces headings at all verbosity levels.
  • Improved reading of pull-down menus in the Skype desktop client with Narrator.
  • Improve pitch change detection by increasing the pitch deltas for capitalization reading option “Change how capitalized text is read” to “Increase pitch”.
  • Improved reading while using Narrator’s text movement commands.
  • Ensured that Narrator’s dialog reading behavior was more reliable.
  • Ensured that focus is set on the Start menu when minimizing Narrator Home.
  • Narrator now announces the value of the Calendar Date picker control as a user navigates with the Tab or Shift + Tab key.
  • Narrator no longer announces blank tooltips.
  • Removed the “not selected” phrase from speaking with Narrator unless multiple selection is possible.
  • Continued to refine reading experiences for Chrome as well as some interaction with controls such as combo boxes and expandable buttons.
  • Made moving by heading more reliable with Narrator and Chrome.
  • Resolved an issue when changing the navigation mode on the Baum VarioUltra when used with Narrator.
  • Small app update news for those in Skip Ahead: We’re rolling out Weather app version 4.28.10351.0 to you, which addresses an issue in which the Weather live tile either wouldn’t work at all, or worked but highlighted the wrong location (depending on your configuration). Thanks everyone who reached out about this, we appreciate your patience while we investigated the issue – the app update will be rolling out to other rings soon.

Known issues

  • The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
  • While night light functionality is back up and running, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space.
  • When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • After upgrade, there might be two Narrator voices talking at the same time.  Reboot the machine once, this issue will go away.
  • Some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on.
  • MSA user after password change may not be able to login at next attempt. Reboot fixes the problem.
  • If Magnifier is enabled and set to docked mode, machine will crash and reboot on sign-in creating a boot loop. We recommend anyone who uses Magnifier to disable docked mode for this flight. A fix for this will be in an upcoming build. For users who upgraded and encountered this reboot condition, you can try turning off Magnifier by pressing Win + Esc at sign-in, then change the Magnifier View to Lens or Full screen in the Magnifier settings.

Known issues for Developers

  • If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

source: Windows Blogs

Feb 07

TechNine Event : February 2019 Update on Microsoft Technology

Location:

Cheops Kontich

           Cheops Technology NV

           Prins Boudewijnlaan 49

           2650 Edegem – Belgium

Timing:

28th of February

18:00 – 21:30

Program:

  • 18H00: Welcome & Food
  • 18H30: Windows 10 Kiosk mode – Erik Moreau
  • 19H00: M365 New SKU’s Demystified MS guest speaker
  • 19H30: Break
  • 19H45: Guest Session TBD
  • 20H15: Azure VM sizing for IT Pros – Thomas Collier
  • 20H45: Networking and Questions
  • 21H30: End

Registration  closed

The Slides

Windows 10 Kiosk Mode

M365 SKU’s Demystified

Azure VM Sizing

Feb 07

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18329

Hello All, sorry for the delay, the flew struck me down for a couple of days… Microsoft didn’t stop releasing new builds Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18329 (19H1) was released to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

I love the new top apps in the search header, very useful! at last ‘full-dark’ mode for mail & calendar, thanks you Microsoft! (if you do not see the dark-mode in your mails & calendar details panes, look for app updates in the store app) – not all of my devies got the app update yet…

This build won’t be available for these Windows 10 editions in the following languages:

  • Windows 10 Home: RO-RO, SK-SK, SL-SI, SR-LATN-RS, TH-TH, UK-UA
  • Windows 10 Home N: RO-RO, SK-SK, SL-SI
  • Windows 10 Pro: FR-CA, IT-IT, JA-JP, KO-KR, NL-NL, PL-PL, SR-LATN-RS
  • Windows 10 Pro N: RO-RO, SK-SK

The 19H1 Bug Bash is over, hope you got in as many feedback as possible! If you missed the special edition Bug Bash webcast you can watch it on demand here!

REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18329

Introducing Top apps in Search

Get quick access to the apps that you use the most, just open Search Home and you’ll see them under Top apps—no typing required! One more way Search helps you find the things you need.

Get quick access to the apps that you use the most, just open Search Home and you'll see them under Top apps—no typing required!

This change is rolling out server-side, so you may see it outside the bounds of this flight. Stay tuned for more improvements.

Run Desktop (Win32) apps in Windows Mixed Reality

In this update, we added the ability to launch Desktop (Win32) applications (such as Spotify, Paint.NET, and Visual Studio Code) in Windows Mixed Reality, just like how you launch Store apps. Please keep in mind this is feature is still in development and we are actively working on addressing bugs. You may find ways to “break” the feature, and when you do, please file a feedback via Feedback Hub!

We added the ability to launch Desktop (Win32) applications (such as Spotify, Pant.NET, and Visual Studio Code) in Windows Mixed Reality, just like how you launch Store apps.

To use this feature, bring up Pins Panel, then go to all apps, where you will find a folder named “Classic Apps (Beta)”. In this folder, you will be able to select and launch any Desktop (Win32) applications.

ADLaM and Osage keyboard support

Building on the font support we announced recently, today we’re introducing keyboard support for ADLaM and Osage. ADLaM script is used to write Pular/Fulfulde, the language of the Fulani people of West Africa. Osage script is used to write the Osage language spoken by the Osage Nation in Oklahoma.

Here is an example what you’d see on the touch keyboard when using ADLaM:

Showing the touch keyboard with ADLaM script.

To try this out yourself, just go to Language Settings, click Add a preferred language, and search for ADLaM or Osage:

Showing language settings, with ADLaM and Osage added to the list.

Other Updates for Insiders

Mail & Calendar version 16.0.11231.20082

Currently rolling out to Insiders in Fast, this app update brings:

Dark mode now extended to Mail and Calendar items: Building on our previous release of Dark mode in Mail and Calendar, we have extended our dark UI to more parts of our app. With this update, Dark mode now works when composing a new message, updating a calendar item or reading your email. This helps provide a calmer reading experience for people that work in a low light environment or just prefer screens that are less bright, and helps to reduce eye strain.

To turn on Dark mode, go to settings, select “Personalization”, and choose “Dark mode”. For those who already have Dark mode enabled, you will see it expand to cover your email reading and compose experiences after receiving the update.

If you prefer to view a particular email in light mode, look for the sunshine icon in the command bar to “turn on the lights” and view the email with a white background. This can help if a particular email is not formatted well for Dark mode.

Showing dark background on an email.

Default Font: We are introducing a top customer requested feature: Default font. Now you can customize how new messages will look. If you create a new mail or reply to an existing mail, the text you type will be in the font face, size, color and emphasis you have selected.  To change your default font, go into settings and select “Default font”. Default font applies per-account and does not roam to other devices.

Showing setting to set your default font.

These updates are the latest in a series of updates we’ve made based on your feedback, and we’re looking forward to hearing what you’d like to see improved next!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in many Win32 apps having an unexpectedly long launch time due to being incorrectly suspended by the OS in the last two flights.
  • We fixed an issue where the Windows Insider Program settings pages via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program had a bug preventing Narrator and Screen Reader programs from properly reading the page.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight where Desktop Window Manager would crash if multiple Office and/or video playback applications were running on the same screen on devices with Multiplane Overlay Support.
  • We fixed an issue resulting video playback going black after rotating a device from landscape to portrait.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in a green screen with error Kernel_auto_boost_lock_acquisition_with_raised_irql when using an Xbox controller with your PC.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in USB devices, including mice and keyboards, potentially not working after updating to recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in intl.cpl hanging when copying settings.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge not being able to access local IPs.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to extend your monitor to a second screen connected via Miracast.
  • We fixed an issue where when you opened a new Notepad window and pressed CTRL + F, the Find window would unexpectedly be populated with the search query from the last time the Find window was used in a previous Notepad instance.
  • We fixed an issue from the previous flight that caused consistent black screens when using Remote Desktop, DisplayLink, or Miracast if you are on an AMD or Nvidia driver.

Known issues

  • The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
  • While night light functionality is back up and running, you may still find issues with other blue light reduction software not working.
  • When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • The value in Narrator Settings “Change the level of detail Narrator provides about text and control” might be empty.  To work around this issue, use the Narrator command Narrator key + v to change the verbosity level, then close and reopen Settings app again.
  • After upgrade, there might be two Narrator voices talking at the same time.  Reboot the machine once, this issue will go away.
  • Windows Sandbox may launch to a black screen for some users.
  • Taskbar icons may stop loading and appear blank.
  • Some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on.
  • You may see an error when unzipping files.
  • The brightness slider may not work.
  • Opening Color filters setting in the Ease of Access setting will crash the Settings app.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 26

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18323

Thusday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18323 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

passed build 18317 had some performance issues on a couple of my devices, this build restored speed & reliability, lots of fixes for this build.

Enjoy upgrading! & Bash those Bugs!

The 19H1 Bug Bash has officially kicked off! It will run from January 23th, 2019 to February 3rd, 2019. Head to the Feedback Hub for Quests to try out. There will also be a special Bug Bash edition webcast on Tuesday, January 29th at 10am PST.

What’s new in Build 18323

Improved RAW image format support

Do you like taking pictures in Raw image formats and wish that the Raw files from your camera were natively supported by Windows?

Good news! Targeting 19H1, we’ve been working hard to release a new store-delivered Raw codec package that dramatically improves native raw file format support in Windows.

The new Raw Image Extension (Beta) package in the Microsoft Store.

By downloading the new Raw Image Extension (Beta) package from the store, you can now view image thumbnails, previews, and camera metadata of previously unsupported raw files right in File Explorer. You can also view your raw images – at full resolution – in apps such as Photos or any other Windows app that uses Windows Imaging Component framework to decode raw images.

How to test

Please note – to install the package, 19H1 Build 18323 or later is required. Open the following link in Edge to install the current beta package: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NCTDW2W1BH8. We have also created a 19H1 Bug Bash quest for directions. If you are running Build 18323 or later, click on this link to open the quest in Feedback Hub.

Known issues

  1. Exposing camera properties stored as EXIF/XMP metadata is not currently working for some raw image formats.
  2. File Explorer hangs when the view state is changed to “Details Pane” and a raw file that activates the new raw codec package is selected.
  3. Opening some raw images in Photos app using the new store-delivered raw codec pack gets stuck at low resolution thumbnail image.

How to provide feedback

We would love to get your feedback. Please send your feedback through Feedback Hub under “Devices and Drivers > Video Playback” category.

Improving Light Theme

We introduced the new Light Theme in Windows 10 with Build 18282 and today’s build has some improvements to Light Theme worth taking note of based on your feedback:

  • We fixed an issue where the text in the battery flyout might become unreadable in light theme due to it being white.
  • We fixed an issue where the scrollbar in the network flyout wasn’t visible in light theme.
  • We fixed an issue where the autoplay icon in the systray wasn’t visible in light theme.
  • We fixed an issue where impacting the network and volume icons in the notification area where after switching to light theme they wouldn’t update from white to black until explorer restarted.
  • We fixed a similar issue where not all supported app icons in the taskbar would switch colors on the taskbar when switching between light and dark theme (particularly on the secondary monitor).
  • We’ve made some adjustments to address issues where when using light theme white icons in notifications weren’t readable.
  • We’re updating the Settings icon to now be dark grey in the taskbar when light theme is enabled rather than black.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on.
  • We fixed an issue causing Update Orchestrator Service to stop working periodically. As a result of this issue, you might have seen an error on Windows Update Settings saying that the update failed to restart. This issue also resulted in restart using Update and Restart to sometimes just restart you back into the base OS.
  • [UPDATED] We fixed an issue where clicking your account in Cortana Permissions didn’t bring up the UI to sign out from Cortana (if you were already signed in). This issue also impacted the Change My Name button.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in night light not working recently.
  • We fixed an issue where the quick actions section of Action Center would be missing sometimes recently.
  • We fixed an issue where closing an open Excel window from the taskbar might cause Excel to go non-responsive.
  • We fixed an issue an issue where the WIN + Ctrl + <number> hotkey wasn’t working.
  • When using your accent color on the taskbar has been enabled, the taskbar and start jump lists will now also be accent-themed.
  • For the time being we’re returning the Volume Mixer link in the volume button context menu to its October 2018 behavior while we look at improving the experience based on feedback.
  • We fixed an issue where themes and Microsoft Edge extensions downloaded from Microsoft Store wouldn’t appear in their respective locations after the download finished.
  • We fixed an issue impacting Action Center reliability in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue where you might see multiple Focus Assist notifications in the Action Center at a particular time.
  • We’re adding Nearby Sharing to the list of default Focus Assist exceptions.
  • We fixed a recent issue where if you used the screen snip quick action in the Action Center then the resulting screenshot would have the Action Center in it.
  • We fixed a recent issue that could result in not being able to launch UWP apps from the Start menu sometimes.
  • We fixed a recent regression resulting in File Explorer sometimes hanging when interacting with MP4s and folders that had MP4s in them.
  • We fixed an issue where Cortana would close immediately if opened from the Start screen when using tablet mode.
  • We fixed an issue impacting Snipping Tool reliability.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Ctrl + P not activating the Print command in Snip & Sketch in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Snip & Sketch potentially crashing when closing many Snip & Sketch windows in a row.
  • We fixed an issue where rebooting would set Nearby Sharing back to an off state if it had been turned on.
  • We fixed an issue where the lock screen preview in Lock Screen Settings wasn’t showing in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue where the scrollbar in Settings was overlapping the text fields when manually configuring your IP address.
  • We fixed a rare issue that could result in the screen locking up when using the Surface Dial.
  • We fixed an issue where the tooltips in the Emoji Panel were truncated on the bottom.
  • We fixed an issue where the Windows feature update might fail but would still be listed as a successful update in Windows Update history page.
  • We fixed an issue where you might see a Windows Update icon in the notification area saying there was an update when no update was available.
  • We fixed an issue where you couldn’t type on the touch keyboard when “Turn on Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse” since focus would move away from the text field and set to the keyboard itself.
  • We fixed an issue on certain devices that could sometimes result in the screen staying black on boot until CTRL + Alt + Del was pressed.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in certain devices experience increased battery drain on the last few flights when in Disconnected Standby Mode.
  • We fixed an issue for devices with multiple monitors resulting in Task View (WIN + Tab) sometimes showing UWP app thumbnails on the primary monitor rather than the monitor where the app was open.
  • We fixed an issue where some key labels were cut off in Armenian full touch keyboard layout.
  • We fixed an issue when using the full touch keyboard layout in Korean where pressing the FN key unexpectedly highlighted the IME ON/OFF key. We also fixed an issue for this language where tapping the tab key wouldn’t insert a tab.
  • Thanks everyone who shared feedback about the new Japanese Microsoft IME we’ve been working on. With today’s build the IME and settings pages are returning to the ones that we shipped with the October 2018 Update, while we take your feedback into consideration.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator sometimes did not say anything when reopening Action Center after it was dismissed using the Esc key.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator did not speak the volume level value when using the hardware volume button to change the volume setting.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator command read from current location did not work when on a heading in Wikipedia.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator announced read-only at the end for links.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator continuous reading command read the last word of a sentence twice on a web page in Microsoft Edge.
  • We fixed an issue impacting a small number of users enrolled in Microsoft Intune where they might not receive policies.
  • We fixed an issue where signing out from inside Windows Sandbox resulted in a blank white window.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in running c:\windows\syswow64\regedit.exe not launching regedit in recent builds.
  • Settings header rollout update: This is now available across most regions for Insiders in Fast using Home edition and Pro editions of Windows that are not domain joined.
  • Small app update: Thanks everyone who reached out about the grid alignment issue in the Calculator – this has been fixed with the 1812 version of the app.

Known issues

  • While with Build 18323 we fixed the recent spike in Update Orchestrator Service crashes, if you’re on a base OS that’s impacted by the crash, you will still see the symptoms described above until you’re on 18323.
  • The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
  • While night light functionality is back up and running, you may still find issues with other blue light reduction software not working.
  • When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • USB devices, including mice and keyboards, may no longer work after updating. Possible workarounds are to change which USB port it is plugged into or connect the device through a USB hub.
  • You may consistently see black screens when using Remote Desktop, DisplayLink, or Miracast if you are on an AMD or Nvidia driver. We’re working on a fix, but in the meantime, you can work around this issue by running the following command: reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm /v EnableFrontBufferRenderChecks /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f. (Updated – thanks Rafael for the recommendation.)
  • The value in Narrator Settings “Change the level of detail Narrator provides about text and control” might be empty.  To work around this issue, use the Narrator command Narrator key + v to change the verbosity level, then close and reopen Settings app again.
  • After upgrade, there might be two Narrator voices talking at the same time.  Reboot the machine once, this issue will go away.
  • Windows Sandbox may launch to a black screen for some users.
  • The Insider Program Settings pages currently have a bug preventing Narrator and Screen Reader programs from properly reading the page. A fix will be available in an upcoming build.
  • Taskbar icons may stop loading and appear blank.
  • Desktop Window Manager will crash if multiple Office and/or video playback applications are running on the same screen on devices that have Multiplane Overlay Support.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 10

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18312

Hi all, Happy 2019 to you!

Yesterday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18312 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. upgrade was smooth for most of my rigs, keep in mind few of the know issues might block you from some stuff.

If you are a Fortnite player you might want to wait a bit on your game station, it’s broken after upgrade

REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18312

Reserving disk space to keep Windows 10 up to date

In 19H1, we’re making a few changes to how Windows 10 manages disk space. Through reserved storage, some disk space will be set aside to be used by updates, apps, temporary files, and system caches. Our goal is to improve the day-to-day function of your PC by ensuring critical OS functions always have access to disk space. With reserved storage, updates, apps, temporary files, and caches are less likely to take away from valuable free space and should continue to operate as expected. Reserved storage will be introduced automatically on PCs that come with 19H1 pre-installed or on PCs where 19H1 was clean installed. For Windows Insiders who want to try this feature out right now – just run through this quest. After completing the quest, reserved storage will kick off with the next flight. (If you do the quest before installing Build 18312 – reserved storage should kick off for this flight.) For more details on reserved storage coming in 19H1, read this blog post here..

FLS Slot Limit Increase

As PCs get more powerful, musicians have created increasingly complex projects with more tracks, more instruments, and deeper effects chains. As a result, some of those musicians were running up against a FLS (Fiber Local Storage) slot allocation ceiling that prevented them from loading into their DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) as many unique plugins as they’d like. This build greatly raises that per-process FLS slot allocation ceiling, allowing loading potentially thousands of unique plugins. Beyond musicians, this change will positively impact any application that dynamically loads hundreds or thousands of unique DLLs that have statically-linked Visual C++ runtimes, or otherwise allocate FLS slots.

Reset this PC UI Improvements

We added new UI for Reset this PC as part of Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. The new UI provides a more consistent experience across devices with different configurations and requires fewer clicks to complete.

Windows Subsystem for Linux Command Line Tool Improvements

We added new command line options to the WSL command line tool (wsl.exe) for easier WSL management and added functionality based on your feedback. Below is a summary of changes. You can read about more details in our release notes and on our command line blog.

  • Consolidated command line options – The wsl command line tool now includes options to manage your WSL distros that are included in the wslconfig command line tool. We intend to only update the wsl tool with the latest management options moving forward.
  • Import a distro for easy sideloading including to non-system drives – Use the “–import” option to imports a tar file as a new distribution. You can specify the distribution registry to the location of your choice including non-system drives.
  • Export your WSL distribution for simpler environment management – Use the “—export” option to export a distribution to a tar file. Your distro will export to your default downloads location.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue where the Network shares page in File Explorer used black text in dark theme.
  • We fixed an issue impacting Microsoft Edge reliability in the last few builds.
  • We fixed an issue where USB printers may appear twice in Devices and Printers under Control Panel.
  • We fixed an issue where the console would lose color when spawning a new Command Prompt.
  • Following up on our work earlier this release to make the console scrollbar dark when dark theme is enabled, the title bar will also now bar dark (if you haven’t chosen in Settings to use your accent color in the title bar).
  • We’re adding a group policy for disabling acrylic on the sign-in screen. This can be found in Group Policy Editor under Administrative Templates > System > Logon > “Show clear logon background”.
  • We fixed an issue where custom desktop/Lock screen images deployed by a runtime provisioning package would be removed after Windows Update.
  • We fixed an issue where the shadow behind a flyout might zoom in after the flyout appeared.
  • We fixed an issue where, if enabled, the Windows Start Up Sound might not play after turning on from shutdown or after updating.
  • We fixed an issue where the File Properties dialog wouldn’t show the full timestamp if “Conversational format” was selected for the Date Modified column in File Explorer.
  • We fixed an issue where the hyperlink colors needed to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if Insights were enabled.
  • If you were experiencing Sticky Notes stuck on Loading with Build 18309, please check the Microsoft Store for Sticky Notes version 3.5.4.

Known issues

  • The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
  • Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Clicking your account in Cortana Permissions doesn’t bringing up the UI to sign out from Cortana (if you were already signed in) for some users in this build.
  • Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
  • When attempting to update this build some S Mode devices will download and restart, but fail the update.
  • Night light functionality is impacted by a bug in this build. We’re working on a fix, and it will be included in an upcoming build.
  • When you open Action Center the quick actions section may be missing.
  • Clicking the network button on the sign-in screen doesn’t work.
  • Some text in the Windows Security app may not currently be correct, or may be missing. This may impact the ability to use some features, such as filtering Protection history.
  • Windows feature update may fail but show up as a successful update in Windows Update history page. If this happens you will see more than one successful install for the same update in the history page.
  • Users may see a warning that their USB is currently in use when trying to eject it using File Explorer. To avoid this warning, close down all open File Explorer windows and eject USB media using the system tray by clicking on ‘Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media’ and then selecting the drive to eject.
  • When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
  • There is an issue impacting a small number of users enrolled in Microsoft Intune where they may not receive policies. Those policies are not applied and left in “pending“ state on the server. The workaround is to go to Settings/Accounts/Access work or school and “Disconnect” your Azure AD account and then re-enroll.
  • [ADDED] We’re investigating issues with Windows Sandbox not loading on PCs with multiple GPUs.
  • [ADDED] In some cases, launching Centennial apps will cause a bindflt.sys bugcheck (GSOD).

Known issues for Developers

  • If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

Touchdown!

Whether you’re a superfan or first-time viewer, search on Bing and get answers to all things NFL. Check out the latest stats and all-time rankings for every player and team.

Join our Bing Insider program to be among the first to learn about these Bing features and more.

REMINDER: 19H1 Bug Bash

Mark your calendars, the 19H1 Bug Bash in Feedback Hub will span from January 23th, 2019 to February 3rd, 2019!

Dec 03

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18290

Hello all, last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18290 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Running smooth for a few days now, some nice tweaks & fixes

have fun upgrading!

Keep in mind older builds are nearing their end, make sure to upgrade before they run  out of time!

What’s new in Build 18290

A touch of Fluent for menus in Start

Following up on our jump list improvements with Build 18282, when you update to today’s build you’ll notice we’ve polished up the power and user menus in Start as well – including adding icons for easier identification.

Showing the power menu open in Start, now with a touch of acrylic, Reveal, and with icons next to each entry.

This will also be visible in the power menu on the sign in screen.

Sync your clock

In response to your feedback, we’re adding an option in Date & Time Settings to manually synchronize your clock with the time server. This will help in scenarios where you think the clock might be out of sync, or if the time service has been disabled. We’ll also show the last time that time was successfully synced, and the address of your current time server.

Date and Time Settings in Settings, with a new entry point called “Synchronize your clock”. Shows last successful sync, and time server, as well as a Sync Now button.

Note: This feature is currently only supported for non-domain joined PCs, although in today’s build it will be visible on all devices.

See which app is using your microphone

In Build 18252 we introduced a new mic icon that would appear in the notification area letting you know when an app was accessing your microphone. Today we’re updating it so if you hover over the icon, it will now show you which app. Double clicking the icon will open Microphone Privacy Settings.

Showing hovering over the microphone button, with a tooltip that says “Windows Voice Recorder is using your microphone.

If multiple apps are using your microphone, then it will just list how many are actively using your microphone. We still have a bit more to do, stay tuned!

Improving your Search and Cortana experiences

We’re exploring some options for improving these experiences in Windows. When you start a search now, you’ll notice we’ve updated the landing page – giving recent activities a bit more room to breathe, adding light theme support, a touch of acrylic and including all the search filter options as pivots from the get go. We’d love to hear your feedback – you can report issues and suggestions to us here. You may notice some other changes as we continue flighting, we’ll have more details to share later.

Windows Update Notifications

Starting with 19H1, when your device has an update requiring reboot (including new builds we release) you will see Windows Update icon with orange indicator in the notification area (system tray) alerting you to restart your device.

Other Updates for Insiders

Mail & Calendar (Version 11001.20106): It is now easier to keep track of your tasks from Mail and Calendar in Microsoft To-Do! With the latest Mail & Calendar update from the Store, we’ve added the ability to switch directly to To-Do in our app navigation. This update is rolling out to both Insiders and Retail users as we speak.

Pointing out the new To-Do button in Calendar.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue resulting in PDFs opened in Microsoft Edge not displaying correctly (small, instead of using the entire space).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in mouse wheel scrolling in many UWP apps and XAML surfaces being unexpectedly fast in recent builds.
  • We’ve made some updates to the taskbar to reduce the number of times you may see the icons redraw. Most noticeably when interacting with the recycle bin, although in other scenarios as well.
  • Antivirus apps must run as a protected process to register with Windows and appear in the Windows Security app. If an AV app does not register, Windows Defender Antivirus will remain enabled.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the System unexpectedly consuming a high amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time when enumerating Bluetooth devices.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Cortana.Signals.dll crashing in the background.
  • We fixed an issue that caused Remote Desktop to show a black screen for some users. This same issue could also cause freezes over Remote Desktop when using VPN.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in mapped network drivers potentially displayed as Unavailable when using the net use command, and displaying a red X in File Explorer.
  • Improved compatibility of Narrator with Chrome.
  • Improved performance of Magnifier centered mouse mode.
  • We fixed an issue where the Pinyin IME would always show English mode in the taskbar, even when typing in Chinese in the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in languages showing an unexpected “Unavailable input method” in their list of keyboards in Settings if you added the language via Language Settings in recent flights.
  • Thanks everyone who’s shared feedback about the new Japanese Microsoft IME introduced with Build 18272. For the moment the IME version will be returning to the one that shipped with the October 2018 Update while we take your feedback into consideration.
  • We’ve added support for LEDBAT in uploads to Delivery Optimization peers on the same LAN (behind the same NAT). Currently LEDBAT is only used by Delivery Optimization in uploads to Group or Internet peers. This feature should prevent congestion on the local network and allow peer-to-peer upload traffic to back off instantly when the network is utilized for higher priority traffic.

Known issues

  • The hyperlink colors need to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if the Insights are enabled.
  • Settings page will crash after changing the account password or PIN, we recommend using the CTRL + ALT + DEL method to change the password
  • Due to a merge conflict, the settings for enabling/disabling Dynamic Lock are missing from Sign-in Settings. We have a fix, which will flight soon.
  • Settings crashes when clicking on the “View storage usage on other drives” option under System > Storage.
  • The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
  • Delete previous version of Windows in Configure Storage Sense is not selectable.
  • Settings will crash when opening Speech Settings.
  • Insiders may see green screens with error System Service Exception in win32kbase.sys when interacting with certain games and apps. We have a fix that will flight in an upcoming flight, we appreciate your patience.
  • There’s an update block for this build in place for a small number of PCs that use Nuvoton (NTC) TPM chips with a specific firmware version (1.3.0.1) due to a bug causing issues with Windows Hello face/biometric/pin login not working. The issue is understood and a fix will flight to Insiders soon.

Known issues for Developers

  • If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

 

source: Windows Blogs

Nov 13

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18277

Hi all!

Last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18277 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. Quick acces to brightness control, new storage settings interface in settings and great tweaks to focus assist, grab your update if you haven’t already done so!

Enjoy upgrading!

REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18277

Evolving Focus assist

Starting with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, we embarked on a journey to help reduce the number of distractions you encounter when you’re trying to get in the zone. With today’s build, we’re taking this to the next level: We’ve added a new focus assist option so that when you’re doing *anything* full screen we can automatically turn on focus assist.

Showing Focus Assist settings in Settings with new “When I’m using an app in full screen mode”.

Watching a movie? Poring over some excel tables? Studying? Focus assist is here for you, and will keep your notifications quiet until you exit full screen mode.

Like our other focus assist settings, this can be found under Settings > System > Focus Assist. Make sure you take a moment to customize your priority list to ensure any notifications you want to break through the rule will appear! If you’d like to turn off the warning notification that’s shown in Action Center after entering focus assist, you can do so by clicking the rule in Focus Assist Settings which prompted the notification.

Improving your Action Center experience

One of the top requests we’ve heard from you is that you’d prefer the brightness Quick action to be a slider instead of a button, and with today’s build we’re making it happen!

Picture of the Action Center open, pointing out the new brightness slider.

But wait, there’s more!

You can now easily customize your Quick actions right from the Action Center itself, rather than having to go into Settings. That means not only can you re-arrange in the moment, but you can also add any Quick action you need on the fly, without needing for it to always take up space.

We’d love for you to try it out and share feedback!

Preparing for Emoji 12

With today’s build, Insiders will get a first look at the emoji we’ve designed so far in preparation for the Emoji 12 release! These emoji are available for use via the emoji panel (WIN + .) and the touch keyboard.

A selection of the new emoji. Including waffle, guide dog, yawning, sloth, and more.

Note: The complete list of emoji for the Emoji 12 release is still in Beta, so Insiders may notice a few changes over the coming flights as the emoji are finalized. We have a bit more work to do, including adding search keywords for the new emoji, and adding a few emoji that aren’t finished yet.

High DPI Improvements

As many of you know, we’ve been working over the past few years to improve the High DPI story for Win32 (desktop) apps on Windows. As part of this, some of you may recall getting a toast about fixing your apps that led you to this setting we added with Build 17063:

Settings page “fix scaling for apps” with “let Windows try to fix apps so they’re not blurry”.

In 19H1, we’re enabling this setting by default, to help automatically address some of your scaling feedback, and reduce the number of times you see that “Fix blurry apps” notification.

We’d love your feedback! Notice that some of your apps seem blurry after docking/undocking, or other mixed DPI scenarios? You can let us know by reporting it here!

If you’re interested to learn whether or not an app is DPI aware you can find out using this feature we rolled out to Task Manager a few flights ago.

Windows Security gets an additional Windows Defender Application Guard setting

Insiders will notice that Isolated browsing has an additional toggle that lets users manage access to their camera and microphone while browsing using Application Guard for Microsoft Edge. If this is managed by enterprise admins, users can check how this setting is configured. For this to be turned on in Application Guard for Microsoft Edge, the camera and microphone setting must already be turned on for the device in Settings > Privacy > Microphone & Settings > Privacy > Camera.

Refreshing the Japanese IME

We’ve already made a few announcements about how we plan to improve your typing experiences in Windows with this release, and we’re excited to add one more to the list today! To provide increased security and reliability, we’re updating the Japanese IME by redesigning how it works with applications. Not only that, but we’ve updated the IME candidate window interface to be cleaner and more polished:

The new candidate window that has numbering index for the predictive input of the new Japanese Microsoft IME.

You’ll notice that each text prediction candidate now has an index so you can quickly select it, just like the conversion candidates! We’re looking forward to you trying it out, and that’s not all! As part of this work, all of your familiar Japanese IME settings have now been fully integrated into Settings. If you’d like to check them out, fastest way there is to right-click the IME mode indicator in the taskbar and select Settings, although you can also get there from the Language Settings page.

Showing the new Japanese Microsoft IME settings.

Some Insiders have had this change for a few flights now, so we wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all of your great feedback so far! Please don’t hesitate to continue sharing thoughts with us about typing in Windows – our ears are open and we’d love to hear from you.

[ADDED 11/8] Improved Storage settings page

You can now get a quick and dynamic storage breakdown of your system! Navigate to the Storage page (Open Start and search “Storage settings”) to see an actionable list of how your storage is used. Click on the different categories to take action and free up some space.

You can now get a quick and dynamic storage breakdown of your system via Settings > System > Storage.

Help us shape the future of Cortana + Amazon Alexa

Recently, we announced an exciting preview in the US that allows you to call up Cortana on Amazon Alexa Echo devices – and Alexa on your Windows 10 PC. You can, for example, enlist Cortana through an Amazon Alexa Echo device to tell you your next meeting or have Alexa order groceries through your Windows 10 PC. Now, we’d like to take the experience even further with the help of Windows Insiders like you. Just start by completing this short survey.

If you haven’t already tried it out, simply click the microphone icon in Windows Search on your Windows 10 PC and say ‘’Hey Cortana, open Alexa’. Or, on your Amazon Echo device, say “Alexa, open Cortana” on Echo devices. (Then let us know what you think in the Feedback Hub.) For more, see our AI blog.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed the issue causing WSL to not work in Build 18272. Thanks for your patience.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in text not rendering on the screen if you had a large number of OTF fonts, or had OTF fonts that support the extended East Asian character set.
  • We fixed a recent issue where Task View failed to show the + button under New Desktop after creating 2 Virtual Desktops.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Timeline crashing explorer.exe if you pressed ALT+F4 while it was visible.
  • We fixed an issue significantly impacting Start menu reliability in recent builds when pinning, unpinning, or uninstalling apps.
  • We fixed an issue where the expected context menu wouldn’t appear after right-clicking on a folder in File Explorer from a network location.
  • Some Insiders may notice small differences in File Explorer over the coming flights – we’ll have more to share later about this later.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the home page of Settings having no visible scrollbar in recent flights if the window was small enough to need one.
  • We’re updating the icon used to identify the Region page in Settings.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing sometimes in recent flights when going to Sign-in Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where Settings would crash if you were typing in the search box with the embedded handwriting panel and went to switch languages within the panel.
  • We fixed an issue where playing videos might unexpectedly show a few frames in the wrong orientation when maximizing the window after changing the orientation of your screen.
  • We fixed an issue impacting Emoji Panel reliability in recent flights.
  • The touch keyboard’s feature to input a period after two quick taps on the spacebar was recently also accidentally enabled when typing with the hardware keyboard and has now been disabled.
  • We’ve made some adjustments to improve the performance of WIN+Shift+S bringing up snipping.
  • Some Insiders may notice changes to our snipping experiences, as we explore ideas for the future – we’ll have more details to share later.
  • We fixed an issue that caused Far Manager to have a significant pause during a long running command like ‘dir’ (see Microsoft/console#279).
  • We fixed an issue that caused Windows applications running from WSL through interop and applications using the *PseudoConsole APIs to redraw the top left corner excessively (see Microsoft/console#235).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in running “start .” from Command Prompt failing in the previous flight with an access denied error.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing bug checks (green screens) with the error KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED on the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue where certain devices might hit a bug check (GSOD) when shutting down or when switching from a Microsoft account to a local admin account.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in wuaueng.dll repeatedly crashing in the background for some Insiders in the last few flights.

Known issues

  • Some users will notice the update status cycling between Getting Things Ready, Downloading, and Installing. This is often accompanied with error 0x8024200d caused by a failed express package download.
  • PDFs opened in Microsoft Edge may not display correctly (small, instead of using the entire space).
  • We’re investigating a race condition resulting in blue screens if your PC is set up to dual boot. If you’re impacted the workaround is to disable dual boot for now, we’ll let you know when the fix flights.
  • The hyperlink colors need to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if the Insights are enabled.
  • Settings page will crash after changing the account password or PIN, we recommend using the CTRL + ALT + DEL method to change the password
  • Due to a merge conflict, the settings for enabling/disabling Dynamic Lock are missing from Sign-in Settings. We’re working on a fix, appreciate your patience.

 

source: Windows Blogs