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Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview with even more Cortana and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements. The update bumps Windows 10 from build 18975 (made available to testers on September 6) to build 18980. These builds are from the 20H1 branch, which represents the Windows 10 update that will arrive in the first half of next year, possibly as the Windows 10 May 2020 Update.
Windows 10 is being developed as a service, meaning it receives new features on a regular basis. Microsoft has released seven major updates so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, Fall Creators Update, April 2018 Update, October 2018 Update, and May 2019 Update.
WSL is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables natively on Windows. Microsoft is currently working on WSL 2 (release notes) and this build adds ARM64 devices. The team has also added the ability to set your distribution’s default user using the /etc/wsl.conf file. There are also multiple bug fixes, including a long-standing issue for legacy Windows symlinks.
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Now that Cortana is an app, Microsoft is giving all Windows Insiders an easily accessible Cortana icon. In the future, you will have the option to use Cortana if you speak a supported language, regardless of your OS display language. The new Cortana app currently supports English (United States), but Microsoft plans to support “the same set of regions and languages we currently support in retail” by this launch next year.
In Windows 10 build 18963, Microsoft revamped the Optional Features page in Settings (Settings => Apps & Features => Optional Features). It’s now available to all Windows Insiders.
Bug fixes
This 20H1 build includes the following bug fixes and improvements:
- There was an upgrade block on the previous flight in order to ensure that Insiders with certain versions of Outlook weren’t impacted by an issue in the build.
- Fixed a deadlock in netprofmsvc.dll that was occurring in recent builds. Symptoms for those impacted potentially included upgrade to the build freezing at 98%, or (if you were able to upgrade) various aspects of the system unexpectedly freezing and becoming unresponsive.
- Addressed an issue where Outlook wouldn’t launch if you clicked an incoming email notification.
- Fixed an issue impacting touch keyboard reliability in recent builds.
- Fixed an issue impacting WIN+(Period) reliability.
- Returned to the retail build version of the Korean IME as feedback is addressed.
- Fixed an issue impacting screen snipping reliability in the last few flights.
- Fixed an issue that could result in the login screen acrylic on the previous flight sometimes unexpectedly showing squares around UI elements.
- Fixed an issue that could result in certain app thumbnails going unexpectedly blank when you right-clicked them in Task View.
- Fixed an issue where removable devices were erroneously labeled as HDD in Task Manager’s performance tab. They will now be labeled Removable.
- Converted MS Paint and WordPad into Optional Features. You can choose to uninstall them or reinstall them via Optional Features in Settings.
- Made some adjustments to help improve performance of the Apps & Features page in Settings when searching.
- Fixed an issue that could result in Settings crashing when updating your account picture.
- Ease of Access settings are no longer participating in settings synchronization (roaming). The Ease of Access toggle in Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings has thus been removed.
- Magnifier reading now works better in applications like Google Chrome and Firefox.
- Magnifier reading no longer clicks the application when using the “Read from here” button or the Ctrl + Alt + Left Mouse Click keyboard shortcut.
- Fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would not display when switching between left-to-right and right-to-left languages.
- Fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would sometimes appear on read-only areas of the screen.
- Fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would appear over the Start menu instead of staying in the Search edit box after typing text in the Search edit box.
- Improved the ability of reading the title of the window with Narrator while reading messages in Outlook.
- Improved auto-reading in Outlook with Narrator to make it more reliable.
- Made changes to more reliably read the message headers using Narrator while reading when using the Shift + Tab command while in Scan Mode.
- Improved the verbosity of Narrator when reading lists at verbosity level one.
- Fixed an issue where an edit field on some webpages was not getting properly updated on a configured braille display when editing the contents with Narrator.
- Fixed an issue where certain Local Experience Packs (LXPs) may revert to English.
- Fixed an issue resulting in certain Wi-Fi adapters not being able to load (code 10 error) after upgrading from a previous release of Windows and needing to be disabled and re-enabled for it to work.
Known issues
This build has seven known issues:
- The Reset this PC cloud download option is not currently calculating the correct amount of space you need to free up if you do not have enough disk space to proceed. To work around this until the fix is available, free up an extra 5GB beyond what is prompted.
- The Reset this PC cloud download option is not currently working when specific optional features are installed. The process will begin, but an error will occur and roll back the changes. To work around this issue, remove the optional features before trying the cloud download option. The optional features are: EMS and SAC Toolset for Windows 10, IrDA infrared, Print Management Console, RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK), RIP Listener, all RSAT tools, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Windows Fax and Scan, Windows Storage Management, Wireless Display, and WI SNMP Provider.
- There has been an issue with older versions of anti-cheat software used with games where after updating to the latest 19H1 Insider Preview builds may cause PCs to experience crashes. Make sure you are running the latest version of your games before attempting to update the operating system.
- Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly.
- Adding a new Language Pack reports successful installation but is not installed.
- Certain 2D apps (like Feedback Hub, Microsoft Store, 3D Viewer) are incorrectly being treated as having protected content within Windows Mixed Reality. During video capture, these 2D apps block their content from being recorded.
- When capturing a repro video while filing a bug via Feedback Hub in Windows Mixed Reality, you won’t be able to select Stop video, due to the protected content issue noted above. If you want to submit a repro video, you will need to wait 5 minutes for the recording to time out. If you’d like to file the bug without a repro video, you can close the Feedback Hub window to end the recording and resume filing your bug when you reopen the app in Feedback > Drafts.
As always, don’t install this on your production machine.
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