Windows 10 Build 15007: Edge, UWP, Hello improvements

Microsoft released a new preview of Windows 10, Windows 10 build 15007 for PC and Mobile to the Fast Ring Insider Channel this night.

The company released Windows 10 Build 15002 less than a week ago, a massive build that introduced dozens of features and changes to the upcoming version of Windows 10.

The new build of Windows 10 is no just a bug fix either, something one might have expected considering the short time period between the two released.

As always, this build is only available to the Fast Ring Insider channel currently. You can check for updates by tapping on the Windows-key, typing Windows Update, and hitting the Enter-key.

Windows 10 Build 15007

Microsoft Edge got its fair share of features again in this build. The web browser got quite a few features already in the last build -- Flash blocking, TCP Fast Open, Web Payments support or a new tab thumbnails row -- and version 15007 continues this trend.

One new feature is the ability to run a file (called open in the dialog) that is available on the Internet without saving it first. Also, there is a new Save As option next to the Save option so that you can pick a different target directory for a download for downloads individually.

Other than that, there is a new import your info page that enables you to import data from other browsers directly from the settings of Edge.

Microsoft continues to improve the share functionality of the operating system, and also of Edge. You may now share tabs that you have set aside with apps installed on the PC.

Web Notes, the feature that enables you to quickly jot down notes on web pages, uses the same Windows Ink experience in this version as Photos or Maps.

Last but not least, support for web to app linking was enabled in Edge. This will open links in linked applications if enabled by the site.

Other Windows 10 Build 15007 improvements

The following is a short bullet point list of other features that are new in this build:

1. Cortana may display links in the Action Center in this build to help you get back to what you have been working on, on other devices linked to the Microsoft Account. Links may be provided for documents you have been working on, or websites that you have open in Edge.
2. The Windows 10 notifications system may display progress indicators in the most recent build.
3. Scrollbar behavior has been improved. The scrollbars are tiny when you use UWP apps, but with this build, they expand automatically when you move the mouse over them to make it easier to hit them correctly.
4. Improvements to the Windows Hello enrollment. "For devices and peripherals that support Windows Hello. you’ll now see a visual guidance that tracks your face in real-time, shows you an improved progress indicator and gives you real-time feedback to quickly and smoothly set your face up for signing in. "
5. Microsoft is preparing the release of the dedicated Windows Themes section on Windows Store.
6. Support for new Bluetooth APIs enabling GATT Server, Bluetooth LE Peripheral role, and unpaired Bluetooth LE device connectivity.
7. The keyboard shortcut Alt-N enables you to take screen captures with the Snipping Tool.

Known issues

The build has quite a few issues, some of them serious, e.g. websites not displaying in Edge, Quicking crashing, Miracast sessions failing to connect, or third party UWP apps crashing if the DPI settings are set to 150% or more.

• After updating to this build, nonstop exceptions in the Spectrum.exe service may occur causing PCs to lose audio, disk I/O usage to become very high, and apps like Microsoft Edge to become unresponsive when doing certain actions. As a workaround to get out of this state, you can delete C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Spectrum\PersistedSpatialAnchors and reboot.
• We are investigating certain situations in which PCs might bugcheck (GSOD) during the installation of new builds (15002+) causing the PC to rollback to the previous build.
  When clicking on certain elements in desktop (Win32) games, the game minimizes and cannot be restored.
• Desktop shortcuts containing the “%” character (usually URI shortcuts with escaped characters) will result in a cyclical explorer.exe crash. To resolve this, use Task Manager to open PowerShell, and edit the shortcut to not include a % in the path.
• When projecting to a secondary monitor, if you set the connection to “Extended”, Explorer.exe may start crashing in a loop. If this happens, turn off your PC, disconnect the secondary monitor, then restart your PC.
• Windows Insiders will unexpected see a “Holographic” entry on the main page of Settings.
• Brightness changes made via Settings > System > Display will unexpectedly revert after closing the Settings app. For now, please use either Action Center, power flyout or brightness keys to change the brightness.
• The list of apps in the Surface Dial “Add an app” page via Settings > Devices > Wheel may unexpectedly be empty. If that happens, tap the “Browse for an app” button at the bottom of the screen to pick the desired app instead.
• Taskbar preview icons are unexpectedly small on high-DPI devices.
• Quicken will fail to run with an error stating .NET 4.6.1 is not installed. For Insiders familiar with Registry Editor, there is an optional workaround. Take ownership of the following registry keys and edit the “version” value to be 4.6.XXXXX instead of 4.7.XXXXX:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Client
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full
• Using CTRL + C to copy in Command Prompt won’t work.
• Some websites in Microsoft Edge may unexpectedly show “We can’t reach this page”. If you encounter this, please try accessing the site from an InPrivate tab.
• Dragging apps from the all apps list to pin on Start’s tile grid won’t work. For now, please right-click on the desired app in order to pin it.
• Miracast sessions will fail to connect.
• On certain hardware types (e.g.: Acer Aspire), the Netflix app crashes when starting a movie.
• 3rd party UWP apps would crash on devices if the DPI settings on the machine are >=150% (Generally people do this on high resolution devices – Surface book etc.).
• If you upgrade from Windows 8.1 directly to Build 15002, all your store apps are lost during upgrade process but you can go and re-download all the lost apps from the Store.
• When using Microsoft Edge with Narrator, you may hear “no item in view” or silence while tabbing or using other navigation commands. You can use Alt + Tab when this happens to move focus away from and back to the Edge browser. Narrator will then read as expected.
• Saying “Hey Cortana, play <item> on <AppName>” doesn’t work immediately after installing the app. Wait 5 minutes for indexing to begin and try again.
• ADDED: Under Settings > Update & security > Windows Update you might see the text “Some Settings are managed by your organization” even though your PC isn’t being managed by an organization. This is a bug caused by an updated flight configuration setting for Insider Preview builds and does not mean your PC is being managed by anyone.
• ADDED 1/13: If you’re experiencing an issue getting stuck at 0% downloading this build – check out this forum post.
• ADDED 1/13: During the installation of this build, Insiders may experience a storport.sys bugcheck (GSOD) causing them to rollback to the previous build. There is currently no workaround.
• ADDED 1/13: If you’re experiencing an issue where your PC gets to 99% and appears stuck – sit tight and don’t do anything (such as rebooting). There is a bug causing the installation to take an abnormal amount of time.
• ADDED 1/13: On some PCs, audio stops working sporadically with ‘device in use’ error”. We are investigating. Restarting the audio service may fix things for a bit.

Closing Words

The feature that I'm most excited about in this build? There are two, actually. First, the improvement that is coming to the scrollbar behavior of UWP apps is welcome, as it is quite difficult at times to hit the tiny scrollbar correctly using the mouth.

Second, the ability to pick custom download locations in Edge, or run downloads right away, is certainly a welcome one as well.

Now You: What's your favorite new feature of Windows 10 version 15007?

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