Windows 10 Mobile Build 10549 Hands On and Gallery

The release of Windows 10 Mobile Build 10549 had a rough start.

It began with Microsoft telling all of its current mobile Windows Insiders that they would have to revert their current Windows 10 Mobile build back to Windows Phone 8.1 to try out 10549.

A major upgrade bug would prevent users from doing anything else. For most testers, at least those who were following the recommendation to not use this pre-release software on their daily driver, would be able to easily do this using the Windows Device Reset Tool (WDRT) and be up and running the new build within a couple of hours.

I did just that with my test device, a Nokia Lumia 830, and got the new build installed last night.

This morning I have spent several hours with it and I must admit it is in pretty decent shape compared to past builds. If you are using Windows 10 Mobile Build 10536 as a daily driver I recommend waiting this one out so you do not have to reset everything. Just wait for the next build to come out so you can upgrade directly. If you are on a testing device and do not mind a reset then go for it - this build appears to be worth it.

Yes, I expressed a lot of concern about whether Windows 10 Mobile would be ready for its debut in December because of the continued serious upgrade bugs and performance issues.

However, after poking around in the new build and configuring this device with some of my favorite apps, I am pleased to say the performance lag I was seeing in past builds is nearly gone in 10549.

There are some areas that need to be squared away and tidied up through the upgrade process, mostly leftover apps from the Windows Phone 8.1 install, but all in all we are talking about some good progress.

As you will see in one of the gallery images - bloat ware is not just a desktop issue. Multiple apps from AT&T and some of their partners get installed by default and have to be removed to clean things up.  Easy enough to address and they do not leave behind any remnants like some desktop software but isn't it time to stop doing this as well?

If the upcoming Windows 10 Mobile builds continue along this path and we get to see more than one build each month then there is some real light at the end of the tunnel.

Bring it on Microsoft!