Short Takes Daily: What's going on in the world of Microsoft this Friday, June 12, 2015

Today in the news: Windows 10 Build 10130 comes to the Slow Ring; the Oculus Rift/Microsoft deal could be really good for both parties; and here's how to turn off Cortana.

Lisa Schmeiser

June 12, 2015

3 Min Read
Short Takes Daily: What's going on in the world of Microsoft this Friday, June 12, 2015
Microsoft News Service

Today in the news: Windows 10 Build 10130 comes to the Slow Ring; the Oculus Rift/Microsoft deal could be really good for both parties; and here's how to turn off Cortana.

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WINDOWS 10 BUILD 10130 COMES TO THE SLOW RING

Microsoft's released Build 10130 of the Windows 10 Insider Preview to Windows Insiders in the Slow ring. Here are the fixes immediately available for Build 10130, according to Microsoft:

  • KB3070365: We fixed an issue where if you click on the icons on the Taskbar (Start, Cortana, Network, Battery, and Action Center) in this build, the expected fly-out might not open.

  • KB3069069: We fixed the issue where after upgrading to this build audio playback is lost in some hardware configurations.

    • Note: Some sound cards may fail to operate in multichannel mode. The workaround to the problem is to set the default audio format to stereo.

  • KB3070677: We fixed an issue where if you’re running the “Core” edition of the Windows 10 Insider Preview and Windows Update might not detect new builds available.

  • KB3070982: This dynamic update prevents an issue that can result in the loss of audio when the upgrade is completed in some hardware configurations.

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WHAT WINDOWS 10 USERS REALLY WANT: TABS

Windows 10 comes with a whole new Web browser, but does it come with tabs? Users apparently are clamoring for the ability to add tabs to Windows' File Explorer, among other missing features. 

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OCULUS RIFT + HOLOLENS

Microsoft and Facebook are partnering, with Oculus bundling an Xbox One controller with every Oculus Rift, and Microsoft offering the ability to stream Xbox One games to the VR headset​. This is a big deal that should benefit both companies, as well as make Sony's life more difficult. ReadWrite's Brian P. Rubin says:

Oculus and Microsoft’s partnership seems to take Valve's Steam out of the picture altogether. To browse, buy, and play games on the Rift, users will access the Oculus Home. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s native Windows 10 support for the Oculus means that installing and running the device and its software should be a cinch.

For those of us wondering, "Hey ... why is this happening while Microsoft is also developing its own virtual reality headset?" Microsoft's VP of Next Gen Experiences, Kudo Tsunoda, says that the two headsets offer two very different experiences: the HoloLens is a "mixed reality device" that augments and extends real-world environments, while the Oculus Rift is about the immersive virtual reality experience.


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WORK SMARTER 

Although Cortana's big draw is that it's supposed to be a digital assistant who can help you, users do have privacy concerns, especially in regards to how Cortana logs and stores information on users' contacts, calendar, location, internet history and favorites. So if you want to use Windows 10 but you don't like the idea of Cortana logging your every move in an effort to "know you" better, here are two ways to turn off Cortana.

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