Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14367 for PC and Mobile now available in the Fast ring

Holy cow, Microsoft. We are just a couple days removed from the release of build 14366 for PC and 14364 for Mobile, yet here we are with a fresh build. Apparently Dona Sarkar and the Windows team like to keep things moving swiftly on the Fast Ring, which makes a lot of sense given the name!

Today, Microsoft releases Build 14367 for both PC and Mobile. If you have OCD, the shared build number should bring you some serenity. As usual, there are both improvements and known issues. Sadly, the mobile "Kids Corner" feature for children is being killed, but that is probably a good thing.

"We are excited to announce 23 new languages for handwriting recognition as a tech preview. This includes Indonesian, Malay, and is our first time to support African languages like Swahili, Xhosa and Zulu. You can install them from language settings and use them in the handwriting keyboard. If you are a developer, you can also leverage them in your apps following the guide to recognize ink as text. Please check the list of supported languages, give them a try, and send us your feedback", says Dona Sarkar, Software Engineer, Windows and Devices Group.

Sarkar further shares, "weve heard from many of you that are attempting to perform a clean installation of Windows that it can sometimes be hard to get started. To help, we are providing a new tool that enables an easy and simple way to start fresh with a clean installation of Windows. This tool is now available from the Settings app for Windows Insiders using the latest builds that installs a clean copy of the most recent version of Windows 10 and removes apps that were installed on your PC".

This "Refresh" tool leaked earlier today, and you can read more about it here.

2nd batch of builds for this week: Build 14367 for PC + Mobile going to #WindowsInsiders in the Fast ring! https://t.co/c59RCfiVPd

— Dona @ #ForgeDevCon (@donasarkar) June 17, 2016

As should be expected, there is a ton of improvements for PC as per below.

• Cross-device notifications from your phone to your PC via Cortana are now more reliable and faster. You can also use quick replies from your PC for notifications that support that feature (there is a known issue in which this will only work if your phone’s screen is turned on – we’ll be fixing this!). Additionally, notifications from your phone to your PC will appear under its own Windows Phone group in Action Center – with a fancy new logo to boot!
• We fixed an issue where the emoji in cross-device notifications would appear as boxes. We also fixed an issue where certain emoji would appear as square boxes in some apps like Notepad.
• Fixed an issue resulting in the dialog when joining the PC to an Azure AD potentially being unexpectedly large on certain devices
• Quick Actions in Action Center that turn on and off different functionality in your device, like Bluetooth on your phone or Tablet Mode on your PC, now have a transient On/Off text indicator so you can clearly see the state change for these. We fixed an issue where the WIN + A keyboard shortcut to launch Action Center wouldn’t work if Action Center icon had been turned off. We also fixed an issue where certain notifications could result in the Action Center not launching until that toast had been cleared.
• We fixed an issue where Cortana wasn’t showing relevant system settings results for certain terms, in particular “typo” or “connect”.
• We fixed an issue where the text in the network flyout might change color from white to black when entering credentials if your PC is using dark mode.
• We fixed an issue where PowerShell shortcuts pinned to the taskbar could only create one functional window – subsequent windows generated from the pinned icon would not accept input.
• We fixed an issue where each newly opened notes in Sticky Notes would flash white and black after a certain number of notes had already been created.
• We added a new shortcut to turn on/off Private mode when using the Japanese Input Method Editor. This new keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + P. We also increased the width of the Japanese 12 key keyboard for small devices when in portrait, so as to improve ease of use and fixed an issue where no characters would be input when using this keyboard in a field where Input Method Editors are disabled
• We updated the Update & Security, Windows Update and Recovery icons in Settings, to be more reflective of the action
• We fixed an issue where the Office apps might not show up in Start’s “Most used” list.
• We fixed an issue where saying “Hey Cortana” would launch Cortana behind Windows Ink Workspace.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Explorer.exe crashing if you selected “Open Command window here” from File Explorer’s context menu.

There are plenty of improvements for Mobile too.

• For all of my fellow devs: you should now be able to deploy an app via Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 to a phone running this build. Thanks for being patient!
• We fixed the issue where Quick Actions in the Settings app were flipped from the order you saw it in the Action Center.
• We fixed an issue resulting in existing reminders failing to display in Cortana’s reminder section, and an error when attempting to save a new reminder.
• We fixed an issue where the text selection grippers would appear very tiny in certain places on high DPI phones, such as when selecting text in the reply textbox of an interactive notification.
• We reduced battery usage when Microsoft Edge is running in the background.
• We polished Action Center so that font size of dropdowns in interactive notifications is now consistent with surrounding text.
• We fixed an issue where Battery Saver wouldn’t be turned on after tapping the notification prompting you to turn on Battery Saver when battery is at 20%.
• We fixed an issue that could result in dropped keystrokes when typing in Outlook Mail or Word Mobile.
• We fixed an issue where, for phones that support it, the “3G Only” and “Only 3G or 4G” cellular options were not working correctly for some Insiders, resulting in 2G networks being selected.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the Japanese Input Method Editor not working correctly in the All apps list search box.
• We updated the Phone Update and Update & Security icons in the Settings app to be more reflective of the action.
• Quick Actions in Action Center that turn on and off different functionality in your device, like Bluetooth on your phone or Tablet Mode on your PC, now have a transient On/Off text indicator so you can clearly see the state change for these. We fixed an issue where if you swiped up on a full screen VOIP notification, the dimmed screen behind it would flash. We also fixed an issue where you may not receive notification toasts until the next time the Action Center had been opened if you had tapped on a notification on the Lock screen but then aborted the prompt to enter your pin.
• We fixed an issue where Lock screen page in Settings may show incorrect data while page is loading.
• We fixed an issue where Quiet Hours might unexpectedly turn off after having been manually turned on using the Quick Action.
• We fixed an issue where certain sample images were displaying in portrait rather than landscape when used as a Lock screen background and phone was connected to an external monitor. In fixing this, these sample images have now become available to select as a background for your second monitor using Continuum.
• We fixed an issue that could result in key presses sometimes being entered multiple times over Miracast.
• We fixed an issue where the “The accessory you’re connecting to isn’t working” error was truncated on the Connect settings page.
• We fixed an issue where the Windows Hello icon might get stuck on the screen after logging in.
• We fixed an issue where selecting a letter from the All apps list would sometimes scroll that letter to the bottom of the screen, rather than the top.

Unfortunately, new issues are a fact of life with pre-release software. Microsoft shares the following known PC issues.

• The Desktop App Converter Preview (Project Centennial) will fail to run on the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14366. If you are a developer utilizing the converter tool to convert your desktop app to UWP, we suggest skipping Build 14366 or switching to the Slow ring until we can fix this issue.
• Narrator does not launch when you toggle switch to “on” via Settings app > Ease of access > Narrator.

And known Mobile issues.

• We are investigating data issues with some Dual-SIM devices where cellular data doesn’t work correctly with a second SIM. Several issues relating to cellular data with Dual-SIM devices have been reported by Insiders with the last two Mobile builds and we’re investigating these reports. Thank you for giving us this feedback.
• There is an issue where certain apps won’t be able to set Start or Lock screen backgrounds.

As I stated earlier, Kids Corner is being killed, but that is kind of a good thing. How is losing a feature a positive? According to Microsoft, it was largely being ignored by mobile users, so further development would be a waste of resources. This means the Windows-maker can focus more energy on aspects of the operating system that users really appreciate.

Are you excited for this new Windows 10 for both PC and Mobile? Tell me in the comments.

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock