Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs with shell, gaming, Task Manager, mixed reality, and delivery optimization improvements. This is the seventh build of the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which is slated to arrive later this year (likely in September).
Windows 10 is a service, meaning it was built in a very different way from its predecessors so it can be regularly updated with not just fixes, but new features, too. Microsoft has released many such updates, including three major ones: November Update, Anniversary Update, and Creators Update.
First up, if you’re using an Azure AD Premium Microsoft account, you can now reset your password and PIN straight from the lock screen. Just click the “Reset password or “I forgot my PIN” link and you’ll be prompted to go through the appropriate process, after which you will be returned to the login screen where you can use your new credentials.
The noise layer of Acrylic Material has been softened, as you can see above. This change will be visible in any XAML-based UI and apps.
For gaming, Microsoft has fixed two issues. Profile cards in the Xbox Live in-game experience should now work again and the game bar should no longer crash while broadcasting.
The Task Manager’s Performance tab has received some changes: The GPU name is now shown on the left-hand side, the multi-engine view (performance monitors shown for the four most active GPU engines) is now the default, there is now a total GPU memory text counter, and the Direct X version now also contains the highest supported DX feature level. Edge’s additional processes are now labeled appropriately (Chakra JIT Compiler, UI Service, Manager, and so on).
As for mixed reality, Microsoft has added support for motion controllers over USB (wireless and Bluetooth support is coming soon). This build also brings connection reliability improvements, an updated Mixed Reality Portal icon, a more intuitive teleportation experience, better headset stability, and the usual bug fixes (full changelog).
Lastly, Microsoft has added two new settings for Delivery Optimization, which is responsible for downloading apps and updates. The Advanced Options section lets you configure various Download and Upload settings (shown above) while Activity Monitor shows you the overall bandwidth used.
This desktop build includes the following bug fixes and improvements:
- The Pin to Taskbar option is now grayed out for InPrivate sessions in Microsoft Edge. Websites pinned to the taskbar from an InPrivate session on a previous build will now open in a regular (non-InPrivate) Microsoft Edge session.
- Fixed an issue where Windows Defender Security Center showed an ‘Unexpected’ state depending on the implementation of the 3rd party firewall product.
- Fixed an issue where the battery status on certain laptops wasn’t updating while the device is unplugged. Thanks everyone who shared logs to help narrow this down.
- Fixed an issue from the last flight where apps that called into the firewall, such as Microsoft Edge and other apps using networking, might become unresponsive until you rebooted.
- Fixed an issue from the last flight resulting in the Surface Dial UI not appearing.
- Fixed an issue when in Recovery Settings if you chose “Reset This PC” > “Keep My files” the operation would fail at 1% and will revert with no changes to the system.
- Fixed an issue resulting in an increase in UWP app reliability issues, for example in Microsoft Edge and Photos, in recent flights.
- If you were still seeing Storage Spaces issues in 16237, please try again in 16241.
- Fixed an issue resulting in Windows Media Player displaying a class registered error when attempting to play music files in recent flights.
- Fixed an issue where the touch keyboard wasn’t automatically displaying upper case keys at the beginning of sentences.
- Fixed an issue where Storage Settings might show the size of C: as double the actual size.
Today’s update bumps the Windows 10 build number for PCs from 16237 (made available to testers on July 7) to build 16241. This build has eight known issues, so make sure to check those before updating.
Microsoft today also released a new Windows Server preview build, which is notable because it is the first, and a new Windows 10 Mobile build, which nobody cares about.
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