It"s Wednesday, and that means that it"s time for a new Windows 10 Insider Preview in the Skip Ahead subset of the Fast ring. Build 18855 is the latest from the 20H1 development branch. For the regular Fast ring, those users are still on 19H1, receiving builds twice a week while Microsoft prepares for the RTM build. Once that happens, the Fast ring will get 19H2 while Skip Ahead continues on with 20H1.
Being that the Skip Ahead ring has skipped so far ahead, it"s not getting any real new features just yet. Indeed, the new features listed for this build should mirror the latest Fast ring build, which is build 18356. There"s a new update for Your Phone, which allows you to mirror your Android phone"s screen, something that was originally shown off at an event in October.
Other than that, it"s just a bunch of fixes, improvements, and known issues. Here"s what got fixed and improved in Windows 10 build 18855:
Notepad now automatically restores unsaved content when Windows restarts for updates.
We’ve enabled microphone in Windows Sandbox, which among other things will improve several accessibility scenarios.
We’ve enabled microphone in Windows Sandbox, which among other things will improve several accessibility scenarios.
We’ve added functionality to configure the audio input device via the Windows Sandbox config file.
We’ve fixed an issue in which the Windows Sandbox time zone was not synchronized with the host.
We’ve enabled the Shift + Alt + PrintScreen key sequence in Windows Sandbox which activates the ease of access dialog for enabling high contrast mode.
We’ve enabled the ctrl + alt + break key sequence in Windows Sandbox which allows entering/exiting fullscreen mode.
We fixed a recent issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing bug checks upon lid close, monitor plug, or monitor unplug.
We fixed an issue resulting in preferred region settings getting reset on upgrade in the last few flights.
We fixed an issue resulting in the Chinese version of multiple games not working.
We fixed an issue in memcpy that caused some drivers to hard-hang the system on load; this could manifest as a hang on upgrade, depending on the system.
We fixed an issue from recent builds that could result in monitors being missing from the built-in Color Management application.
We fixed an issue causing Explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when Jump list content was updated.
We fixed an issue where text scaling values did not persist across upgrades for Win32 applications.
Due to a Narrator reading reliability issue for the “Change how capitalized text is read” feature, the feature has been disabled starting in build 18855.
We fixed an issue that could cause the touch keyboard to crash when switching from IME-based languages to another language.
And of course, there are some known issues:
- Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).
While this flight contains some night light improvements, we’re continuing to investigate reported issues in this space.
When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled, the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.
Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.
We’re investigating an issue preventing VMware from being able to install or update Windows Insider Preview builds. Hyper-V is a viable alternative if available to you.
If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.
Remember, Windows 10 20H1 is still really early on in development, earlier on than we"ve ever seen in public testing. There may be more issues that aren"t found yet, or there may be some that show up later. After upgrading to 20H1, you"ll have to do a clean installation of Windows 10 go back to a production build.
If you"re on Skip Ahead, you can install today"s build by heading to Settings -> Update & security -> Windows Update -> Check for updates. If not, you"re out of luck, as there"s limited space in the ring. Keep checking back though, because as space opens up, you"ll be able to enroll.