Build 14965 for Windows 10 Fast Ring Insiders is now available. Also, this week started the Bug Bash which runs until November 13th. A few good updates this round. Also, a few great fixes for those having some issues.

Controlling external monitors from tablets just got easier (PC): You can now drive content on a second display from your tablet without ever having to attach a mouse. The virtual touchpad lets you do more with a tablet and a second screen – just connect to another monitor, PC, or TV, go to Action Center and tap on the “Project” Quick Action to extend your screen. Use it just like you would a physical touchpad to control content on the connected screen. To enable it, press and hold on the taskbar and select “Show touchpad button”. A touchpad icon will now appear in the notification area (just like Windows Ink Workspace does), and tapping on it will bring it up the virtual touchpad.

Another Insiders build for Windows 10 Fast Ring folks. Hit Windows Update to grab it now!

Of course, this huge glaring bug is still a known issue. I really hope this gets fixed soon. I read a lot of posts where people are not upgrading due to this.

If you have a 3rd party antivirus product installed on your PC – your PC might not be able to complete the update to this build and roll-back to the previous build.

Halloween marked more than just a sugar rush, but also the end of sales for PC’s with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 pre-installed. For those in the market for a new PC, it’s Windows 10 from here on out. At least from the OEM. You can still install Windows 7 or 8.1 and have some support, but even that is coming to an end. The Microsoft Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet shows the date of general availability, Retail software end of sales and the end of sales for PC’s with Windows preinstalled. Without much fanfare, the October 31st, 2016 deadline has passed.

When Microsoft launches a new version of Windows, we will continue to allow OEMs to sell PCs preinstalled with the previous version for up to two years after the launch date of the new version unless otherwise announced. Certain OEM versions of Windows products include downgrade rights (as outlined within the software license terms). Downgrade rights make it possible to use a previous version of Windows instead of the licensed software preinstalled on a new PC.

Today had quite a few new announcements from Microsoft. A couple really stuck out for me.

The Xbox One will support audio bitstreaming which will support Dolby Atmos for those with a home theater that supports it. This is another thing that will help put the Xbox One into your home theater rack.

VR Headsets. With the competition releasing a lot of new VR headsets, Microsoft is set to do the same. But, they are launching next year with a relatively low price of $299.

Microsoft’s Beam service which is a direct competitor to other game streaming services like Twitch.

Surface Book i7, with a massive 16 hour battery life and a better GPU. For those needing the extra performance, this is the one to have. (Start at $2399).

Surface Studio. This was the all in one device that was rumored. It’s a lot better that previously thought, as well. A very nice device for those that can use the power and can handle the price (starting at $2999).

Surface Dial. This looks cool. While I would only use a fraction of the features on it, there are some that this will be an excellent accessory. I may pick one up just to play with it and see if I can get some use out ($100).

For those in the fast ring of the Insiders group on Windows 10 or Windows Mobile, build 14955 is now available. I’m glad the Feedback Hub sign in issue is fixed!

Upcoming Bugbash Just a reminder that we are planning to kick off our next bugbash starting on Tuesday, November 8th and finishing at the end of the day on Sunday, November 13th. I’ll have more details in the coming weeks. Looking forward to seeing a lot of participation from Insiders! If you have ideas on what Quests you will like to see for the Bug Bash, let us know!

Windows 10 Build 14951 has been released to the fast ring. Quite a few nice improvements.

Refining the customization experience for precision touchpad (PC): Since last week, we’ve continued working in this space, and have another set of improvements headed your way. To start with, we’ve hooked up our keyboard shortcut picker, so now if you choose that option on the Advanced gestures page, you’ll be presented a recorder so you can capture your favorite key combo –  perhaps WIN + Alt + D or WIN + F to start with? Secondly, we’ve added a Change audio and volume option to the set of basic swipe gestures you can pick from. Finally, we’ve updated the reset button to now has a progress circle and display a check mark when it is finished. We’ve also heard your feedback from the last flight, and fixed a few issues including that the reset button wasn’t clearing the settings listed on the advanced gestures page, that the 4-fingure gesture graphic was visible on devices that only supported 3-contact points, and that some of the advanced gestures options weren’t working as expected. If you have any more feedback for us, please let us know!

Also, an upcoming bug bash (no new improvements, lots of bug squashing) for those interested in giving a ton of feedback.

Just a heads-up that we are planning to kick off our next bugbash starting on Tuesday, November 8th and finishing at the end of the day on Sunday, November 13th. I’ll have more details in the coming weeks. Looking forward to seeing a lot of participation from Insiders!

Hints of a version and date of the next major Windows 10 release have been found on Twitter (WalkingCat – @h0x0d). Version 1703, which denotes a March 2017 release, have been found throughout the new Insiders releases.

These things are coming quick these days! Build 14946 is released for Windows 10 Insiders on PC and Mobile. A lot of new fixes, including one I’ve been waiting for – Microsoft Edge crashing is fixed. Yea, I’m one of the few that uses Edge. Still not full time, though.

Hit Windows Update to grab the new build if you’re on the fast ring. A couple things that might hold you back, though:

Known issues for PC

• If you have 3^rd party antivirus products such as Bitdefender, Kaspersky Antivirus, F-Secure Antivirus and Malwarebytes installed on your PC – your PC might not be able to complete the update to this build and roll-back to the previous build.
• Larger Windows Store games such as ReCore, Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Killer Instinct and Rise of the Tomb Raider may fail to launch.

Microsoft has a new site up for a Save the Date for an upcoming event. Live streaming of the even in New York City will be on Wednesday, October 26th at 10AM EDT/7AM PDT.  With the recent reports of a 27” all in one device and recent Surface keyboard and mouse leaks, it may be related to that. Not likely to be a new Surface lineup, but I wouldn’t complain if it were!

Join us to see what’s next for Windows 10, save the date to watch the livestream of our #MicrosoftEvent in New York City on Wednesday October 26, 2016 at 10AM EDT/7AM PDT.

Windows 10 Build 14942 was just released for Insiders on the Fast Ring. A lot of new updates in this build. A lot of these updates and changes were done in response to Insider feedback, so make sure you’re using the feedback tool to give Microsoft great suggestions on how to make Windows better.

Improving the PC upgrade experience: Starting with build 14926, we announced that if you uninstall one of the preinstalled apps on Windows, that state will now be preserved after upgrade. With today’s build, we’re happy to let you know that we’ve taken that work a step further: after upgrading from 14942, if an IT-Pro has de-provisioned an app from your OS image (and you haven’t reinstalled it yourself), that provisioning status will now be preserved after upgrade, and the app will not reinstall. We appreciate everyone who shared feedback with us about this – if you have any other feedback about your upgrade experience, please don’t hesitate to log it – we’re listening!