If you"ve got a HoloLens 2 that"s on the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Program, build 20279.1006 was released last week. The build is from the Iron branch, which is apparently going to be a real update for HoloLens 2 headsets, unlike Windows 10 client. The new build has a bunch of new features, which is perfectly natural for HoloLens, being that it doesn"t receive as many new builds as Windows 10 does.
First up is the new Edge browser. It"s based on Chromium like what we"ve been getting on Windows 10 for a while now. It"s not actually replacing Edge Legacy just yet though. For now, you"ll be able to choose between the two browsers, but to be clear, Edge Chromium will replace Edge Legacy eventually. You"ll be able to tell the difference because Edge Chromium has a new icon.
Setting up Edge is pretty much the same as on Windows 10. There will be the same first-run animation that interrupts your workflow, and most functionality should work as expected after that. You can view and mark up PDFs, turn on dark mode, save PDFs from the Print menu, and more. Features coming soon include WebXR and 360 Viewer extensions and joining a Teams call through the browser with video, mixed reality capture, or screen-sharing.
There"s also a new Settings app. It includes new HoloLens 2 settings for Sound, Power & sleep, Network & Internet, Apps, Accounts, Ease of Access, and more. Here"s the full list:
- Settings search: search for settings from the Settings homepage using keywords or the setting"s name
- System > Sound:
- Input and output audio devices: independently choose your input and output audio devices (for example, listen to audio via Bluetooth headphones or use a USB-C microphone for audio input). Note: Bluetooth microphones are not supported by HoloLens 2.
- App volume: independently adjust the volume of each app
- System > Power & sleep: choose when the device should go to sleep after a period of inactivity
- System > Battery: manually enable battery saver mode or set a battery threshold at which point battery saver mode turns on automatically
- Devices > USB: you can disable USB connections by default
- Network & Internet:
- USB-C Ethernet adapters will now appear in Network & Internet
- USB-C Ethernet adapter settings are now available, including its IP address
- You can now enable airplane mode on HoloLens 2
- Apps: you can reset the default apps used for file and link types. See Default app picker for more information.
- Accounts > Other users: device owners can add users, upgrade standard users to device owners, downgrade device owners to standard users, and remove users.
- Ease of Access: change text size and some visual effects
You"ll find the Office web app in the "All apps" list now, and it"s really just a shortcut to Office.com. In fact, there"s also a new default app picker, so if you launch the Office web app, you should be asked if you want to use Edge Legacy or Edge Chromium.
If you"re on the Dev channel, this build is available now, and it should be a near-final build for the spring update.