Windows 10 Build 10558 for PCs Leaks

Just days ahead of Microsoft’s hardware event in New York City, a new build of Windows 10—build 10558—has leaked, providing our first peek at new Messaging and Skype Video apps and, more important, the ability to install universal apps to external storage.

I’m in Colorado this week for work meetings, and while I only brought one laptop with me—the excellent HP Spectre x360—I decided to take a chance and upgrade from build 10547 to this new build. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

New Messaging and Skype Video apps. We’ve known these were coming, and to Windows 10 Mobile as well, for quite some time. But this is the first build in which we’ve had a chance to actually see what Microsoft’s in-box universal app replacements for Skype look like. There’s not much to say about Messaging yet—it looks pretty bare-bones—but Skype Video works a lot like the old Skype modern app though your video displays automatically when you run the app.

Install apps to external storage. You may recall that Microsoft removed the ability to install apps to external storage from the RTM version of Windows 10. Well, this much-needed capability is back in build 10558, meaning it should be ready for the TH2 release.

Edge tab previews. Yet another feature that was originally planned for the RTM version of Windows 10 makes its long-awaited debut in this build.

Revised Start context menu. When you right-click on tiles in the Start menu, there are new icons in the context menu that appears.

New Control Panel icons I’m not sure why they’re bothering with this, but Control Panel picks up some new icons.

I’m sure there is more, but I need to keep looking around…