Windows 10 Builds 17115.1 and 17618 - Some Fixes & Some Breaks

This week MS released two Windows 10 builds - 17115.1 as part of the RS4 "Release" branch to Fast Ring Insiders and 17618 to RS5 Skip Ahead branch Insiders

 17115.1's fixed the two big issues with the 17110 & 17112 where you could receive a Green Screen of Death (GSOD) failure when clicking on a One Drive file that had not sync'd locally (I experienced this) as well the MS Store "disappearance" (I also experienced this).   

 In addition there were 14 fixes as a new OOBE Privacy settings page that collects all options and places them on a single page.   Post OS MS released an update to the Mixed Reality Viewer to address some of the very slow frame rate issues it had called out.

 17115.1 was definitely more stable that 17110 and 17112 and was also released to the Slow Ring which is a pretty good sign that MS felt good about the build.  As I mentioned in previous posts - I actually have to question why 17110 & 17112 were released at all.  

 Oh and yes RS4 will officially be called the Spring Creators Update - yawn...

 So I brought another machine into my testing pool with a Dell Inspiron 3647 and decided to try Skip Ahead again.  The machine was originally on Fall Creators - then activated insiders - so to 17115.1 then Skip Ahead via a reg hack to 17618. 

 With 17618 - MS reintroduced the Sets feature.  In theory the feature was available to all Skip Ahead users although it was not working when I installed.  This was reflected by several others as well in the Feedback Forums.  Right now it is limited to Mail, Calendar, OneNote, MSN News and Windows Explorer and Edge.

 Timeline was hidden by default.  I may actually perform a full reset and see if Sets becomes active.    

 I also had issues with Mail, Calendar, People and other apps that began looping when requesting permission to things like location or Calendar items.   You had to manually go into App Permissions and turn on things - relaunch the app and then it would work.

 Finally I had to update drivers for the Intel 3160 WiFi card to get features like Bluetooth to work and/or toggle on/off at the Action Center.  

 I am still holding firm that the release build for RS4 will be somewhere in the 17120 to 17130 range and that we may see that build as early as next week.

 For folks updating from Fall Creators - you'll notice three changes.  First is the Timeline feature - a nice to have.  Second is continued improvement in Settings - but still keep Control Panel on your desktop to get to advanced features.  Finally is some more Fluent Design elements - yawn.   

 Obviously the big thing for RS4 is support for the new "Always Connected PC" ARM based systems from HP, Asus and Lenovo.  All 3 are available on pre-order and it will be interesting to see once we're past the enthusiast purchasing - if they sell at any sort of volume.   

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