Along with a new Redstone 4 build in the Fast ring, Microsoft today released Windows 10 for PCs build 17623 to those in the Skip Ahead subset of the ring. It"s the third build to be released from the Redstone 5 development branch, and it contains a number of new features, such as HEIF support, safe removal of external GPUs, and more.
But as always, there"s a long list of fixes, improvements, and known issues. Here"s what got fixed and improved:
For Windows Insiders in the Skip Ahead ring, we will begin testing a change where links clicked on within the Windows Mail app will open in Microsoft Edge, which provides the best, most secure and consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices. With built-in features for reading, note-taking, Cortana integration, and easy access to services such as SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft Edge enables you to be more productive, organized and creative without sacrificing your battery life or security. As always, we look forward to feedback from our WIP community.
We fixed an issue where the Microsoft Store may be completely broken or disappeared altogether after upgrading to this build.
We fixed two issues impacting the usability of Windows Mixed Reality on the previous build (Windows Mixed Reality running at a very low frame rate (8-10fps), and a potential crash at startup that could cause Windows Mixed Reality to not work).
We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to interact with title bars using touch when Sets was enabled.
We fixed an issue resulting in the touch keyboard crashing when focus was moved to certain password fields.
We’ve improved the performance of Bluetooth mice when the system is under load.
We fixed an issue from recent flights causing precision touchpads to periodically need a few tries to be able to move the mouse.
We fixed an issue resulting in the Amharic keyboard not working in Win32 apps.
We fixed an issue where EFI and Recovery partitions were unexpectedly listed in Defragment and Optimize Drives.
We fixed an issue optimizing drives in Defragment and Optimize Drives didn’t work in the last few flights.
We fixed an issue resulting in a permanently black window if you dragged a tab out of a Microsoft Edge window, pulled it up to the top edge of the screen, and moved it back down and released it.
We’ve updated the Cortana section in Settings to now be called “Cortana & Search”.
We fixed an issue where you couldn’t use touch to interact with the Timeline scrollbar.
We fixed an issue where a failed app update could result in that app becoming unpinned from the taskbar.
We fixed an issue where if focus was set inside Action Center pressing Esc wouldn’t close the Action Center window.
We fixed an issue that could result in ShellExperienceHost periodically waking the device from hibernate if active live tiles were pinned to Start.
Here are the known issues:
If you open Settings and clicking on any links to the Microsoft Store or links in tips, Settings will crash. This includes the links to get themes and fonts from the Microsoft Store, as well as the link to Windows Defender.
If you try to open a file that is available online-only from OneDrive that hasn’t been previously downloaded to your PC (marked with a green checkmark in File Explorer), your PC could bugcheck (GSOD). You can work around this problem by right-clicking on these files and selecting “Always keep on this device.” Any file-on-demand from OneDrive that is already downloaded to the PC should open fine.
The Emoji Panel keyboard shortcuts don’t work – for now you’ll need to use the touch keyboard to enter emoji. If you right-click on the taskbar you’ll find an option to show the touch keyboard button and go from there.
Redstone 5 still has a really long way to go. After all, the Redstone 4 feature update hasn"t even been released yet. We"re expecting Redstone 5 to be finalized sometime around September, with a version number of 1809. Obviously, there will be a lot of news between now and then, so stay tuned.
To install today"s build, go to Settings -> Update & security -> Windows Update -> Check for updates. If you"re not in the Skip Ahead subset of the Fast ring, keep in mind that there"s limited space. You can go to the Windows Insider Program tab to see if it will let you enroll, but it will only let you do it if there"s space.