Microsoft launches new Windows 10 Preview build with range of improvements

Scorpus

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microsoft windows preview build windows 10 insiders

Microsoft has released a new version of the Windows 10 Preview, build 10061, to members of the Insider program for beta testing and feedback. Compared to the previous Preview build, this new build features a number of general improvements, additions and fixes across the board.

The biggest addition to Windows 10 in this build are updated Mail and Calendar apps, which bring improved performance, more streamlined interfaces, and new features. The Mail app in particular has received a ton of new stuff, such as swipe gestures for flagging and deleting emails, and a revamped authoring experience that "leverages the familiar and rich capability of Word".

Microsoft has also improved Continuum, which is Windows 10's way of modifying system behavior depending on whether a device is being used in a tablet mode with a touchscreen, or in a laptop/desktop mode with a keyboard and mouse. In the latest build of Windows, Microsoft has tweaked Continuum to make certain UI elements more touchable when in tablet mode.

There are several new theming features in the latest Windows 10 build, including a black system theme, transparency for the Start menu and Taskbar, the ability to resize the Start menu, and new coloring options. On top of this, Microsoft has made some minor visual changes to Task View, and improved the Virtual Desktop experience.

Windows Insiders in the Fast ring can now download build 10061 through Windows Update. Expect to hear more updates about Windows 10 this time next week as Microsoft's Build 2015 conference kicks off in San Francisco.

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Just installed it a few minutes ago. They really need to make the build updates install faster.

Build 10061 seems to be fairly stable (sans the known bugs). The UI changes are nice, but it's still incomplete. Hopefully we'll start seeing the finished look (or at least close to it) in the big June build. I really do like the new look of the theme, but there still are some things that are clearly not finished appearance wise.
Feature wise I'm still not sure how close to finishing it they are. They still need to work a lot on Cortana, Spartan, some important core apps and other smaller things.

In my opinion people can start using it for their home PCs without any major issues or for light work, but I don't recommend it unless you are a bit tech-savvy.
 
Just installed it a few minutes ago. They really need to make the build updates install faster.

Build 10061 seems to be fairly stable (sans the known bugs). The UI changes are nice, but it's still incomplete. Hopefully we'll start seeing the finished look (or at least close to it) in the big June build. I really do like the new look of the theme, but there still are some things that are clearly not finished appearance wise.
Feature wise I'm still not sure how close to finishing it they are. They still need to work a lot on Cortana, Spartan, some important core apps and other smaller things.

In my opinion people can start using it for their home PCs without any major issues or for light work, but I don't recommend it unless you are a bit tech-savvy.

I can't remember which build number I first installed of the Windows 10 TP...but...I did notice something. The build "updates" really don't appear to be installed as "updates". It looks like what they are doing when a new build number is released, is simply downloading the new build number in .ISO form somewhere on the hard disk and pretty much doing a virtual new install. Now, technically, if they are preserving some settings then we can't say it's a brand new fresh install. But since my perceptions lead me to believe Windows 10 is downloading the whole new.ISO image files for each build...yeah...so in other words, I agree with your statement. The "upgrade" time to go from build to build is somewhat ridiculous. I think I might just download the .ISO outside of Windows 10 and do a fresh install like I did the first time since there is not really much gain in updating through the OS itself.

Unless you have done a lot of 3rd party app installations and made lots of personal tweaks might as well just snag the new .ISO and install fresh. I'm gonna do this...shortly...in spite of not liking Windows 10 much...download the build 10061 ISO and install fresh.
 
Just installed it a few minutes ago. They really need to make the build updates install faster.

Build 10061 seems to be fairly stable (sans the known bugs). The UI changes are nice, but it's still incomplete. Hopefully we'll start seeing the finished look (or at least close to it) in the big June build. I really do like the new look of the theme, but there still are some things that are clearly not finished appearance wise.
Feature wise I'm still not sure how close to finishing it they are. They still need to work a lot on Cortana, Spartan, some important core apps and other smaller things.

In my opinion people can start using it for their home PCs without any major issues or for light work, but I don't recommend it unless you are a bit tech-savvy.

I can't remember which build number I first installed of the Windows 10 TP...but...I did notice something. The build "updates" really don't appear to be installed as "updates". It looks like what they are doing when a new build number is released, is simply downloading the new build number in .ISO form somewhere on the hard disk and pretty much doing a virtual new install. Now, technically, if they are preserving some settings then we can't say it's a brand new fresh install. But since my perceptions lead me to believe Windows 10 is downloading the whole new.ISO image files for each build...yeah...so in other words, I agree with your statement. The "upgrade" time to go from build to build is somewhat ridiculous. I think I might just download the .ISO outside of Windows 10 and do a fresh install like I did the first time since there is not really much gain in updating through the OS itself.

Unless you have done a lot of 3rd party app installations and made lots of personal tweaks might as well just snag the new .ISO and install fresh. I'm gonna do this...shortly...in spite of not liking Windows 10 much...download the build 10061 ISO and install fresh.

Microsoft is aware of the long amount of time it takes to install new builds, I believe it's related to the fact that the "upgrade" downloads all language packs --- at least I recall reading this some where on-line.
 
Microsoft is aware of the long amount of time it takes to install new builds, I believe it's related to the fact that the "upgrade" downloads all language packs --- at least I recall reading this some where on-line.
that was a bug which was eventually fixed. this is something different. it's more like it almost reinstalls windows during the build change. I think it's to ensure that the update has as few bugs as possible and it doesn't brick the entire system (and in their defence, although I did have some problems during some updates, they always fixed themselves with a restart and it did not break the OS)
 
Hmmm, I am not sure my plan is possible. Has Microsoft "officially" released build 10061 to insiders for download? I wanna do a fresh install and avoid the painful upgrade through the OS. If it is only officially available through the OS, I'll wait.
 
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