Good news, Windows Insiders on the fast track: Gabe Aul's announced the arrival of the latest iteration of Windows 10, build 10565 and you'll be getting it soon, unless you live in Russia or Turkey.
Geographic constraints aside, here's what has been added to this latest version:
-- A new mode now sets the last printer you used as your default printer. If this doesn't work for you, you can change this behavior in Settings > Devices > Printer & Scanners. The ability to set a default printer by network location is no longer an option.
-- It is reportedly easier to activate Windows 10 on devices that take advantage of the free upgrade offer to genuine Windows by using existing Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 product keys. Says Aul:
If you install this build of the Windows 10 Insider Preview on a PC and it doesn’t automatically activate, you can enter the product key from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 used to activate the prior Windows version on the same device to activate Windows 10 by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation and selecting Change Product Key.
If you do a clean install of Windows 10 by booting off the media, you can also enter the product key from prior Windows versions on qualifying devices during setup.
-- There's some aesthetic tweaking: new icons, improved context menus on Start, more colorful title bars (adjust the color by going to Settings > Personalization > Colors)
-- Cortana can now understand notes you've inked/written, and if you make digital annotations, she can set reminders by location or time.
-- In Microsoft Edge, users can hover over a browser tab and get a preview of the page (without having to be in the active window); they can also test-drive a new feature that lets users sync Favorites and Reading List items.
-- Desktop Windows 10 users can preview Skype messaging, calling and video capabilities via Messaging, Phone and Skype video universal Windows apps; this is the realization of Microsoft's promise to integrate Skype's capabilities all through Windows 10.
Here's what's been fixed:
-- Context menus are now smaller so they're easier to use with a mouse.
-- You can pin contacts to the Start menu from the People app. And when you pin apps to the taskbar, they won't appear twice any more.
-- Hiding desktop icons via the Context menu now works.
-- Windows Store apps are now updating automatically.
-- "You should no longer see a warning message in the Settings app > Update & Security > Windows Update regarding changed ring settings for preview builds unless you actually change your ring settings."
Be warned, however, that there are some known issues with this build. Read them and upgrade at your own risk:
-- The search box will not work if you are in a locale where Cortana is not available.
-- The Xbox app for Windows 10 will consume gigabytes of memory on your PC if you have any non-Windows Store games installed on your PC that have been identified as games or added by you in the Xbox app. To get the memory back, close the Xbox app.
-- WebM and VP9 have been temporarily removed from the flight builds.
-- Small form-factor devices that boot with rotation or virtual mode screen size set larger than the physical screen size? Not good news for you. You'll have a bluescreen on upgrade and will roll back to the previous build.
If you're not a Windows Insider yet, here's how to join the program from within Windows 10.
