Windows 10 has a new build for fast ring insiders. Quite a few updates to the browser Edge. Folders within the Start Menu tiles. Cortana, and a lot more. This is a good sized update!

Windows Theme Management in Settings: As we’ve mentioned in the past, one of our ongoing efforts is to consolidate Settings and Control panel, and we use your feedback to prioritize the convergence into Settings. We’re happy to unveil the next piece of this project: Management of themes has now moved out of Control panel and in to the Settings app. It can be found, along with all your other familiar personalization options, under Settings > Personalization. Pick one of your recent themes, or create and save custom new ones. How would you like to see Settings evolve next? Let us know in the Feedback Hub!

Previous reports of the CMD.exe program being removed from Windows 10 and being replaced by Powershell are false. The command line is used my many many people, and is used by various scripts and is required for many things. Powershell does support a lot of the commands, but the cmd.exe is too widely used to be thrown away.

Glad to hear! I was really thrown for a loop on how that would work.

The Cmd shell remains an essential part of Windows, and is used daily by millions of businesses, developers, and IT Pro’s around the world.

In fact:

• Much of the automated system that builds and tests Windows itself is a collection of many Cmd scripts that have been
  created over many years, without which we couldn’t build Windows itself!
• Cmd is one of the most frequently run executables on Windows with a similar number of daily launches as File Explorer,
  Edge and Internet Explorer!
• Many of our customers and partners are totally dependent on Cmd, and all it’s quirks, for their companies” existence!

According to a tweet from Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insiders team, there will be no more builds this year. Slow ring gets an ISO, but she doesn’t think the current builds are good enough to release and have you hanging through the holiday vacation.

Microsoft has shown a video that shows off Windows 10 running on the ARM powered Snapdragon processor. This is great for low cost, low power tablets and devices (perhaps a Surface Phone in the future?). It even offers the ability to join a domain as well as run x86 applications via emulation. 

Build 14986 is coming down the pipeline for Fast Ring insiders of Windows 10. Some very nice additions this build. Especially if you’re a fan of Cortana. I think this is starting to fit in more with the connected home Microsoft is starting to implement. Check out the blog post for the large list of other great features this build.

• Turn off your computer, change volume with voice commands: Being able to control your computer with just your voice is one of the top requests we get with Cortana, so we’re excited to say that we’ve added several new features to Cortana that let you do just that. Now you can shut down your PC just by asking Cortana. You can also restart, lock, or put the system to sleep, and raise and lower your system volume with just your voice. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

A new build for Windows 10 Mobile Insiders, Build 14977, has been released. Like the desktop release last week, you can now read EPUB books on your phone, which is a nice addition.

Read EPUB books in Microsoft Edge on your phone: In addition to being able to read any unprotected e-book in the EPUB file format on your PC with Microsoft Edge – you can also read unprotected e-book in the EPUB file format with Microsoft Edge on your phone! When you open an unprotected e-book in Microsoft Edge, you will be taken into a customizable reading experience where you can change the font and text size and choose between 3 themes: light, sepia, and dark. As you read, you can leave bookmarks. To navigate through an e-book, you can use the table of contents or seek bar at the bottom of the browser. And you can also search for words or phrases and use Cortana to define specific words.

Windows 10 Anniversary Edition has apparently gone through enough testing via consumers and enterprise pilot programs to reach the CBB (Current Branch for Business) release stage. For more information on the servicing options and how they work (Insider Program, Current Branch, Current Branch for Business, Long-Term Servicing Branch), check out this link.

Windows 10 is also simplifying IT and significantly reducing deployment times. For example, with Windows Upgrade Analytics, customers can better assess their readiness for Windows 10 deployment and reduce an upgrade process that used to take years to just months or weeks. Windows 10 is also our most compatible release ever and with 99% of the top 3,000 apps shown to be compatible, customers are deploying at scale with confidence.

The Redmond Microsoft campus, all 500 acres of it, is certified at the Gold Level or Zero Waste Certification from the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council. I’ve visited the Redmond campus more than a few times, and there is a big push for recycling. Well done, Microsoft. Some excellent work done there!

Microsoft is the first technology company in the country to achieve this important benchmark. It underscores our commitment to being responsible corporate citizens and supplements the zero-waste certification we have held for eight years from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) for our sustainable dining practices. Our goal is to continue diverting as much of our waste as we can from landfills.

For those on the Fast Ring of Windows 10 Insiders, build 14971 is now available. EPUB is now supported in Microsoft Edge, which will be nice.

PowerShell in the Shell: In an effort to bring the best command line experiences to the forefront for all power users, PowerShell is now the defacto command shell from File Explorer. It replaces Command Prompt (aka, “cmd.exe”) in the WIN + X menu, in File Explorer’s File menu, and in the context menu that appears when you shift-right-click the whitespace in File Explorer. Typing “cmd” (or “powershell”) in File Explorer’s address bar will remain a quick way to launch the command shell at that location. For those who prefer to use Command Prompt, you can opt out of the WIN + X change by opening Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”.