Windows 10 Build 15042/15043 - We're in the home stretch
On Feb 24, MS released Windows 10 Builds 15042 for PC and 15043 for Mobile to Fast Ring Insiders.
It had been 2 weeks since the release of 15031 - and the launch of a Bug Bash cycle. These builds are the result.
While there a few minor "feature" updates like a new OOBE icon for Cortana and some improvements to Flash and ePub support in Edge. The focus obviously was on bug fixes with nearly 35 listed for PC and over a dozen for Mobile.
The "evaluation" branding has been removed with 15042 - so that is the big indicator that we are very close to the end of the Redstone II branch and release of the Creators Update.
The update process was smooth and relatively quick across all my platforms so it looks as though MS has addressed that major issue.
So now the focus turns to two things - final build and release date. It is entirely possible that we will only get one more in early March that will be the "insiders" production release followed by that typical 1 - 2 week gap before general release.
Next the focus has to turn to what did we gain in Creators over Anniversary that is compelling enough to upgrade or buy a new PC that will support all the new capabilities.
That is hard to answer and it does really depend on your platform. Sure I can call out things like the continued expansion of Ink capabilities, Surface Dial and Hello or to the continued improvement with Edge, but there is only value if you are running a platform that supports these features. And so similarly - are these new feature compelling enough for you to buy a new PC ?
And while MS has been continuing to expand the new Settings area in an attempt to retire the Control Panel - there are still a lot of capabilities there that you can only get done in Control Panel - so still quite a ways to go in my opinion.
There is still quite a bit of "legacy" UI and functionality left in Windows 10 and after 20+ months of production and approaching the 4th major release you would think the progression would have been greater.
And Windows 10 adoption has slowed - dramatically. At the end of July 2016 - so Anniversary update - Windows 10 market share was at 21.13%. As of the end of Jan 2017 its at 25.30% At that pace it would take nearly 3 years to catch up with Windows 7's current 47.2% share.
Bottom line is that we are approaching the end the of Redstone II branch with a near production ready release. MS has continued to improve Windows 10 - but I am not confident that it is going to move the needle on either it's market share or drive new PC sales.
It had been 2 weeks since the release of 15031 - and the launch of a Bug Bash cycle. These builds are the result.
While there a few minor "feature" updates like a new OOBE icon for Cortana and some improvements to Flash and ePub support in Edge. The focus obviously was on bug fixes with nearly 35 listed for PC and over a dozen for Mobile.
The "evaluation" branding has been removed with 15042 - so that is the big indicator that we are very close to the end of the Redstone II branch and release of the Creators Update.
The update process was smooth and relatively quick across all my platforms so it looks as though MS has addressed that major issue.
So now the focus turns to two things - final build and release date. It is entirely possible that we will only get one more in early March that will be the "insiders" production release followed by that typical 1 - 2 week gap before general release.
Next the focus has to turn to what did we gain in Creators over Anniversary that is compelling enough to upgrade or buy a new PC that will support all the new capabilities.
That is hard to answer and it does really depend on your platform. Sure I can call out things like the continued expansion of Ink capabilities, Surface Dial and Hello or to the continued improvement with Edge, but there is only value if you are running a platform that supports these features. And so similarly - are these new feature compelling enough for you to buy a new PC ?
And while MS has been continuing to expand the new Settings area in an attempt to retire the Control Panel - there are still a lot of capabilities there that you can only get done in Control Panel - so still quite a ways to go in my opinion.
There is still quite a bit of "legacy" UI and functionality left in Windows 10 and after 20+ months of production and approaching the 4th major release you would think the progression would have been greater.
And Windows 10 adoption has slowed - dramatically. At the end of July 2016 - so Anniversary update - Windows 10 market share was at 21.13%. As of the end of Jan 2017 its at 25.30% At that pace it would take nearly 3 years to catch up with Windows 7's current 47.2% share.
Bottom line is that we are approaching the end the of Redstone II branch with a near production ready release. MS has continued to improve Windows 10 - but I am not confident that it is going to move the needle on either it's market share or drive new PC sales.
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