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!

The new Surface updates for Surface Pro 4, Surface 3, and Surface Book are available. Most of these updates are focusing on power and battery life. Grab them if you need them via Windows Update or from the Microsoft page.

• Intel(R) Precise Touch Device (v1.1.0.246) improves touch stability when the device resumes operation from sleep or hibernation.
• Surface Integration (v1.0.97.0) optimizes screen brightness when the device resumes operation from sleep or hibernation.
• Surface Integration Service Device (v1.0.115.0) ensures the default Balanced power plan is set correctly when the operating system is updated.
• Surface Pen Pairing (v1.0.56.0) improves pen pairing with the device.
• Surface Management Engine (v11.0.15.1003) improves stability and performance when you change between power states.
• Surface UEFI (v106.1281.768.0) improves stability and performance when you change between power states.
• Surface Integration (v1.0.103.0) improves the device usability and battery life.
• Surface Integration Service Device (v1.0.146.0) makes sure the default Balanced power plan is set correctly when the operating system is updated.

For those running Windows 7 and Windows 8, be on the look out for the updated telemetry updates that trigger the Get Windows 10 dialogs. This has caused confusion, frustration, and downright anger in the past from some users.

Updates are KB2952664 for Windows 7 and KB2976978 for Windows 8.

This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. These diagnostics help determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed. This update will help Microsoft and its partners ensure compatibility for customers who want to install the latest Windows operating system.

Does this mean Microsoft will be offering the free update to Windows 10 again, after lackluster growth? No one knows quite yet.

Microsoft is readying a fix for the recent update to the Anniversary Update for Windows 10 that caused a reboot loop. The KB3194496 update caused problems for some Insiders, but was released to the public release ring anyway. Microsoft announced they are working on the fix in this Microsoft Answers forum post.

Hello Insiders!
We’ve been working diligently on this issue and are finalizing a clean-up script that will fix the underlying issue preventing the install of  KB3194496 (Cumulative Update 14393.222) for affected users.  Your patience during our research and subsequent work is greatly appreciated.

Thank you as always and stay tuned!