Windows 10 Build 14279 Released, Has A Few New Features

Microsoft has released a new build of Windows 10 for Fast Ring users and this time around, it is version 14279. You can grab the bits right now by going to Windows Update and search for updates.

There are a couple new features in this release including that Cortana can now remember things for you, an updated logon experience and additional language support for Cortana.

In this release, Cortana is now supported in Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil) or French (Canada) languages. The new reminders features works exactly like you would expect; by saying “remind me to [insert task]”, Cortana will remind you to compelete this action at a later time. With this feature, you can also set a time for the reminder at the end of the phrase. It’s a simple addition to Cortana but is one that many (myself included) have been waiting for.

In the current versions of Windows, there are two logon backgrounds, the lock screen and the logon screen. In this release, Microsoft is merging those two items to only use the lock screen background which is how it is done on the mobile OS. If you have a custom lock screen set, this background is now used for both lock and logon. If you currently use Windows Spotlight, Microsoft says changes will be coming in the future for you and to sit tight.

Posted below are the items that have been fixed as well as the known issues:

Here’s what’s fixed for PC

• We fixed an issue where Microsoft Edge and Cortana were crashing for users with roaming profiles.
• We fixed an issue where Cortana would continue to show reminders that have been completed.
• We fixed an issue where items copied/moved to the desktop would not display until the desktop is manually refreshed by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing “Refresh” or pressing F5.
• We fixed an issue where downloading certain drivers from Windows Update was causing some PCs to bluescreen.

Known issues for PC

• We’re investigating an issue in which some Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book devices experience a freeze or hang and all input such as keyboard/trackpad and touch do not work. The workaround is to hold down the power button to force the device to hard-reboot.
• We are continuing to track several issues reported by Insiders where some PCs will freeze or bluescreen when resuming from hibernation. Disabling hibernation is a workaround in some cases until this is fixed.
• If you have Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Internet Security, or the Kaspersky Total Security Suite installed on your PC there is a known driver bug that prevents these programs from working as expected in builds from the Development Branch. We are partnering with Kaspersky to fix this issue for a future release, but at this time there are no known workarounds. While this issue is present, we recommend using Windows Defender or another third party anti-virus product of your choice to remain protected.
• Turning on the “always show all icons in the notification area” setting disrupts the layout of the notification area (“systray”). Your notification area will look out of alignment.
• We are seeing reports of crashes with apps such as QQ crashing due to an OS reliability issue we are currently investigating. This bug is also impacting older apps such as Windows Live Mail and Expression Encoder 4.

As always, you should not install this build on your primary PC. Even though Microsoft lists the known issues, seeing as this is the Fast ring, there could be other substantial problems that pop up that have not been documented. If you run into any issues with this release, let us know in the comments below.