Windows 10 Build 10162 - Getting Closer
For the 3rd time in a week MS released a Windows 10 Build - 10162.
I installed 10162 on 4 devices - a desktop, laptop, AIO and tablet
Here's the good, bad and ugly...
Let's start with the install/upgrade process...
Like previous builds, the desktop and laptop were pretty painless. The desktop took a few attempts running Windows update to actually get the 10162 to download, but then ran flawlessly - the laptop saw and downloaded with no problem and also installed flawlessly...
The tablet once again was a different story and quite a path to get to 10162. It started with downgrading the previous 10130 Core edition to 10074. The Core edition of 10130 had a known issue with seeing new builds and failing to properly install some KBs to correct the issue.
So the path to get there started by copying the 10074 ISO to an SD drive and then mounting and running setup. 10074 installed okay and after some time to stabilize I ran Windows update to get back to 10130 Pro - then to 10162. It finally did install correctly and appears to be stable.
The AIO like the tablet had build 10130 Core installed - A clean install of 10162 from DVD worked fine.
So a couple of comments about the release schedule Insiders experienced this week.
While it was great to see updated builds from MS - the 3 release schedule kept most of us in installation mode and not testing mode. In many cases no sooner had you finished 1 install - you were working on the next. So while it was a great test of repeated upgrades - it did not provide a lot of time to load apps, test and provide feedback before the next build was out.
The end result was like many I ended up @ 10162 and kind of flew through 10158 and 10159.
With that said - 10162 appears to be much closer to release ready code than any previous builds.
So a few observations with 10162..
I had some challenges with the Photos app. I have a large 14K+ photo collection on a separate drive from my OS. I added the folder to my Windows 10 libraries and launched Photos. Photos then went out began looking for photo files on both local and cloud locations. While it did populate quite a few - it also crashed after just a couple of minutes. Repeated attempts did not correct the issue.
The location services does not seem to be working correctly - even though I checked to make sure it the service was on and that the proper apps had access to location - Maps for example did not recognize my location - same with Weather. Also the weather live tile works on some system and not on others.
On the tablet - I am experiencing an issue with the on-screen keyboard in the it comes up in handwriting mode most times. I've checked all of the control panel and setting to try and tell Windows to bring up the keyboard instead - but it is inconsistent..
MS is beginning to address one of my other complaints about Windows 10 and that is the mixed location/UI for management functions. Previous to 10162 - you sometimes launched Settings and sometimes Control Panel to get to specific settings for a particular feature or function. MS has now added links inside the Settings App to get some of those key features. But as of today it is not complete.
Up until now I have limited 3rd party app installs & testing but have started down that path.
iTunes 12.2 installed and appears to run okay - although I have not performed extensive testing.
HP Scan and Capture installs and runs okay as does Adobe Acrobat DC.
Initially - I ran into a problem with the Chrome browser. While it did download and install okay - it did not run. After setting compatibility mode to Windows 8 - it now runs fine.
I also tried to write this post using Edge - but had to stop. Edge did not render the Blogger pages correctly and functions like font selection, sizing, etc did not display or work.
The Phone companion app is also broken. I tried attaching my Nokia 735 running W10 build 10146 - which showed correctly in Explorer - but launching the app just fails..
Bottom line - Yes my confidence in Windows 10 to be "ready" for traditional desktop/laptop installs on July 29 has increased..but not 100% yet...
I still do have concerns about the ability to come from a Windows 7 or 8 machine to Windows 10 cleanly - so there is some work in the upgrade process and Store. From my experience with tablets - I would say there still is a ways to go.
The Windows team noted that Insiders would have the long weekend to absorb and test these latest builds. Maybe that means there will still be 1 or 2 more preview builds prior to July 29.
Stay tuned...
Here's the good, bad and ugly...
Let's start with the install/upgrade process...
Like previous builds, the desktop and laptop were pretty painless. The desktop took a few attempts running Windows update to actually get the 10162 to download, but then ran flawlessly - the laptop saw and downloaded with no problem and also installed flawlessly...
The tablet once again was a different story and quite a path to get to 10162. It started with downgrading the previous 10130 Core edition to 10074. The Core edition of 10130 had a known issue with seeing new builds and failing to properly install some KBs to correct the issue.
So the path to get there started by copying the 10074 ISO to an SD drive and then mounting and running setup. 10074 installed okay and after some time to stabilize I ran Windows update to get back to 10130 Pro - then to 10162. It finally did install correctly and appears to be stable.
The AIO like the tablet had build 10130 Core installed - A clean install of 10162 from DVD worked fine.
So a couple of comments about the release schedule Insiders experienced this week.
While it was great to see updated builds from MS - the 3 release schedule kept most of us in installation mode and not testing mode. In many cases no sooner had you finished 1 install - you were working on the next. So while it was a great test of repeated upgrades - it did not provide a lot of time to load apps, test and provide feedback before the next build was out.
The end result was like many I ended up @ 10162 and kind of flew through 10158 and 10159.
With that said - 10162 appears to be much closer to release ready code than any previous builds.
So a few observations with 10162..
I had some challenges with the Photos app. I have a large 14K+ photo collection on a separate drive from my OS. I added the folder to my Windows 10 libraries and launched Photos. Photos then went out began looking for photo files on both local and cloud locations. While it did populate quite a few - it also crashed after just a couple of minutes. Repeated attempts did not correct the issue.
The location services does not seem to be working correctly - even though I checked to make sure it the service was on and that the proper apps had access to location - Maps for example did not recognize my location - same with Weather. Also the weather live tile works on some system and not on others.
On the tablet - I am experiencing an issue with the on-screen keyboard in the it comes up in handwriting mode most times. I've checked all of the control panel and setting to try and tell Windows to bring up the keyboard instead - but it is inconsistent..
MS is beginning to address one of my other complaints about Windows 10 and that is the mixed location/UI for management functions. Previous to 10162 - you sometimes launched Settings and sometimes Control Panel to get to specific settings for a particular feature or function. MS has now added links inside the Settings App to get some of those key features. But as of today it is not complete.
Up until now I have limited 3rd party app installs & testing but have started down that path.
iTunes 12.2 installed and appears to run okay - although I have not performed extensive testing.
HP Scan and Capture installs and runs okay as does Adobe Acrobat DC.
Initially - I ran into a problem with the Chrome browser. While it did download and install okay - it did not run. After setting compatibility mode to Windows 8 - it now runs fine.
I also tried to write this post using Edge - but had to stop. Edge did not render the Blogger pages correctly and functions like font selection, sizing, etc did not display or work.
The Phone companion app is also broken. I tried attaching my Nokia 735 running W10 build 10146 - which showed correctly in Explorer - but launching the app just fails..
Bottom line - Yes my confidence in Windows 10 to be "ready" for traditional desktop/laptop installs on July 29 has increased..but not 100% yet...
I still do have concerns about the ability to come from a Windows 7 or 8 machine to Windows 10 cleanly - so there is some work in the upgrade process and Store. From my experience with tablets - I would say there still is a ways to go.
The Windows team noted that Insiders would have the long weekend to absorb and test these latest builds. Maybe that means there will still be 1 or 2 more preview builds prior to July 29.
Stay tuned...
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