Windows 10 Build 14279 - Some small changes

On March 4, MS released Windows 10 Build 14279 of the Redstone branch to Fast Ring Insiders.

 According to the Windows Blog - here are the following fixes

  • 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.


There were also a number of new features that included

  • Cortana in more languages - several languages added
  • Cortana remembers things for you - So a To-Do list capability
  • Updated logon experience - Same background option for Lock/Login screen
  • Performance and Candidate improvements in Japanese IME - Speedier response for IME inputs.
As with previous builds I installed 14279 on desktop, laptop and tablet devices. I experienced one issue with one of my desktops in that I it would quickly flash that it had a 100% download of 14279 - but would fail when trying to prepare the update - to Fix it I had to A) clear out the Software Distribution folder - by stopping the wuauserv service and deleting the folder - then restarting the service and then B) Disable to peer level usage for getting updates.  

So I have to admit I am not a user of Cortana so I have not test the changes there. I feel Cortana is somewhat redundant and I don't do a lot of voice search. While MS probably has one of the best backend voice processing systems out there - it still makes mistakes from time to time so in my opinion it's slower than actually typing the search.   

The new logon experience part makes sense - have the same background from Lock to Login screens provides consistency.  But I also think MS is making a mistake here.  I really like the Windows Spotlight images that MS provides - and so I don't understand why you can't select it for Lock/Login & Background and potentially different categories for each screen.   I turned on the feature and got Spotlight for Lock, but then one of the stock OS images for Logon - so not really working the way it should in my opinion.  Additionally I don't spend much time on the lock screen - and so the only way to get that image on the desktop is to install the Bing Desktop Search app - which by the way isn't in the Store.

Another feature I have recently turned off was Settings Sync. In theory this feature would allow Theme, Passwords, IE Settings, Language, Ease of Use, etc to be sync'd across all of your devices.  However I have found that it doesn't provide much value and sometimes gets things like Theme's wrong.  

Also on the Store side - I get consistent failure of HP related driver updates for my printers across multiple machines.  Typically with error 0x80070490 which seems to point to Component-Based Servicing (CBS) manifest corruption.  For right now I am just ignoring the errors as I have been having them across multiple builds - both Production and Fast Ring for some time and the printers work fine.  Personally I think it is an HP issue.   

The Fitbit app is still a problem and it still cannot sync correctly.  Even with a recent app update.  The problem is consistant across all Windows 10 versions. Either with internal BT or the FitBit supplied dongle Sync just fails.  All Other BT devices work fine - so I really think this is a fit bit issue.  

Some of well known blogs out there have been making comments regarding the increased pace of Fast Ring builds for Redstone.   Overall I'm okay with it - considering this was the 7th update this year.  While it can take a little time to perform the build deployment - it's typically less than an hour end to end.  I think a consistent rhythm is good - so hopefully that will keep going.   Luckily I have not experienced any BSOD or failures that other have had.  





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