Now that Windows 10 Creators Edition has been officially released, Microsoft is turning its attention to the next major release, code-named Redstone 3. That means the Windows Insider program is cranking back up with new preview builds aimed at a late 2017 release for the next major Windows 10 update.
Microsoft released a Windows Insider update Friday that’s one of the earliest Redstone 3 releases. At this point, the company’s developers are working to solidify the core of Windows 10 before rolling out new features. Accordingly, Windows 10 build 16176 is mostly made up of bug fixes.
Before we get to that list, however, Microsoft did highlight one change that will be significant for a very particular subset of users. Specifically, it added serial device support to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). WSL processes can now directly access Windows COM ports. You’ll know if that’s important to you, and if so, the company has provided more details at the WSL blog, along with that feature’s own list of features and fixes.
For everyone else, build 16176 is most notable for a few changes, improvements, and fixes. Here are some highlights:
- Holding the power button down for 7 seconds on newer devices that don’t use legacy ACPI power buttons will now trigger a bug check.
- Microsoft has Narrator working again in this build.
- An issue that was causing apps and games to crash due to advertising ID misconfiguration has been fixed.
- The Start menu and Action Center should no longer suffer from a slowdown in framerates on certain devices with transparency enabled that are using UWP apps.
- The Action Center should no longer erroneously dismiss multiple notifications when one notification is dismissed.
- The Clock and Calendar flyout should no longer be missing agenda integration for some users.
- Surface Books should no longer trigger a disk check when waking from sleep.
- Win32 app text should no longer fail to render, and require logging out and then back in to resolve the issue.
- The Extensions Process should no longer be inappropriately suspended during Connected Standby, which causes Edge to become unresponsive when waking from sleep.
If you’re a Windows Insider preparing to install build 16176, here are some issues that you should be aware of before hitting the update button:
- Apps using the “Centennial” Desktop Bridge technology and that are installed from the Windows Store, e.g., Slack and Evernote, will cause a green screen of death.
- Some Insiders might see the error “Some updates were canceled. We’ll keep trying in case new updates become available.” You can find out more details on that error in this forum post.
- You can’t double-click on the Windows Defender icon in the notification area to open the app. Right-click and select “Open” instead.
- Surface 3 devices won’t update to new builds with an SD card installed due to a lack of updated drivers.
- You might have issues when using F12 to open the Developer Tools in Edge.
- Tapping the apps listed in Windows Ink Workspace’s Recent Apps section might cause a crash.
As usual, if you’re a Windows Insider on the Fast Ring, then click on the Action Center icon, select All settings, then Update & Security, and then click the “Check for updates” button. Once the update is downloaded and installed, you’ll have to reboot. As always, proceed at your own risk and keep those known issues in mind.
