Microsoft Issues Windows 10 Build 10547 for PCs to Insiders on the Fast Ring

Today, Microsoft released another post-RTM build of Windows 10 to Windows Insiders on the Fast ring. And this one looks like a big deal, as it addresses a number of complaints users have had.

As with all previous post-RTM builds, this one is only available to Fast ring (not Slow ring) testers, and there’s no ISO available. So you have to upgrade through Windows Update.

It looks like doing so will be worth it. Here’s what’s new.

Bigger tile groups in Start. In previous Windows 10 builds, you were limited to 3 columns of medium tiles per group in Start, but with the new build you can optionally have a fourth column. To do so, navigate to Settings, Personalization, Start and enable the new option “Show more tiles.”

More tiles in Start. In previous Windows 10 builds, you were limited to 512 tiles–though, seriously, who needs that many tiles?–but now the new limit is 2048.

Tablet mode improvements. When you use Task view in Tablet mode, you can now snap apps left and right and even replace a previous snapped app with a new one (like you could in Windows 8.1). You can also swipe down on an app to close it now too (again, like Windows 8.1).

Many updated universal apps. Microsoft has updated many of the universal apps that come with Window 10, including Mail and Calendar (which get color and dark themes), Photos (which gets folder views of OneDrive), Groove, and Xbox. Be sure to check for the updates in Store.

Disable the Windows background picture in the sign-in screen.This one was a huge user ask. Now, you can turn off the Windows background picture in the sign-in screen. To do so, navigate to Settings, Personalization, Lock screen and disable the option “Show Windows background picture on the sign-in screen.”

Cortana improvements.You can now use Cortana with local accounts as well as with a Microsoft account.

Text input panel improvements. The text input panel will now expand as you write, and it no longer opens automatically when you are not in Tablet mode (or have an external Surface keyboard attached). Microsoft has also added additional punctuation to the suggestions bar and has improved suggestions to be more relevant.

A/V updates for Edge. Microsoft’s new web browser picks up real-time audio and video communications via a preview version of a technology called Object RTC.

Bugs fixed. A number of issues have been fixed in this build.

Known issues. As always there are a number of known issues. You may need to manually check for app updates in Windows Store. There is an obscure issue with using Notepad from the command line. And you will see a warning message in Settings, Update & Security. Windows Update related preview builds; you can ignore this.

Happy downloading!