Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15007 for PC and Mobile arrives on the Fast ring -- introduces more great features

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A few days ago, Microsoft rolled out Build 15002 (for PC) to Insiders on the Fast ring. It introduced a wealth of new features for Edge, Windows Ink, and Cortana, as well as the ability to pause updates, a new Share experience, and much more.

You might expect Build 15007 to just be a bunch of fixes to shore things up and improve stability, but actually it also adds a selection of new features and improvements. Here's what's new.

SEE ALSO: Wow! Massive Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15002 arrives on Fast ring -- and it's a doozy!

More Edge enhancements

In Build 15002 Microsoft introduced the ability for Edge users to 'set aside' tabs so they could come back to them later. In this new build, PC users can now share those tabs via the usual sharing methods. Click the 'Tabs you’ve set aside' button, and under the ellipses (…) select 'Share tabs'.

If you decide you want to use Edge as your main browser (hey, it could happen) it’s now easier to import data over from an existing browser. Just open Settings and you’ll see an 'Import from another browser' button.

You can now choose to Run a download link without saving it, and there’s a new 'Save As' option, which is well overdue.

In addition to all that, Web Notes have been updated to match the recent Windows Ink changes, and text scaling and zoom has been improved on Mobile.

Cortana additions

If you’re running Windows 10 on more than one PC you can now use Cortana to help you pick up where you left off when switching devices. Quick links for Edge websites and more appear in the Action Center.

Cortana can also take advantage of notification grouping now.

Other improvements

Developers can now send toast notifications with a progress indicator showing things like download status.

There have been improvements made to the Windows Hello enrollment process -- try this out by going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Windows Hello > Face recognition.

A new Rainbow flag has been added to the emoji font and keyboard.

You can now take a screen capture just using your keyboard. On PC, press Alt + N, to take a capture in the Snipping Tool.

Other changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • Fixed an issue where tearing off a tab in Microsoft Edge (using your mouse to drag a tab into its own window) might cause your PC to bugcheck (GSOD).
  • Fixed an issue where going to Battery settings page via Settings > System > Battery crashes the Settings app.
  • Fixed an issue where the Virtual Touchpad was is missing from the taskbar context menu.
  • Fixed an issue where the touch keyboard button might be missing from the taskbar on touch machines.
  • Fixed an issue where Windows Hello was giving a "Couldn’t turn on the camera" error on the Lock screen.
  • Fixed an issue where Remote Desktop connections might unexpectedly fail due to an error saying invalid credentials (when in fact the credentials had been valid).
  • Fixed an issue that could result in the quick action section being missing from Action Center.
  • Fixed an issue where Surface pen clicks might not work after cycling Bluetooth off/on.
  • Fixed an issue where the Data Usage page in Settings might not load.
  • Updated the Virtual Touchpad to be a little bigger.
  • Fixed an issue resulting in the Netflix app potentially displaying a black screen rather than the expected video content.

Known issues for PC

  • After updating to this build, nonstop exceptions in the Spectrum.exe service may occur causing PCs to lose audio, disk I/O usage to become very high, and apps like Microsoft Edge to become unresponsive when doing certain actions. As a workaround to get out of this state, you can delete C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Spectrum\PersistedSpatialAnchors and reboot. For more details, see this forum post.
  • Microsoft is investigating certain situations in which PCs might bugcheck (GSOD) during the installation of new builds (15002+) causing the PC to rollback to the previous build.
  • When clicking on certain elements in desktop (Win32) games, the game minimizes and cannot be restored.
  • Desktop shortcuts containing the "%" character (usually URI shortcuts with escaped characters) will result in a cyclical explorer.exe crash. To resolve this, use Task Manager to open PowerShell, and edit the shortcut to not include a % in the path.
  • When projecting to a secondary monitor, if you set the connection to "Extended", Explorer.exe may start crashing in a loop. If this happens, turn off your PC, disconnect the secondary monitor, then restart your PC.
  • Windows Insiders will unexpected see a "Holographic" entry on the main page of Settings.
  • Brightness changes made via Settings > System > Display will unexpectedly revert after closing the Settings app. For now, please use either Action Center, power flyout or brightness keys to change the brightness.
  • The list of apps in the Surface Dial "Add an app" page via Settings > Devices > Wheel may unexpectedly be empty. If that happens, tap the "Browse for an app" button at the bottom of the screen to pick the desired app instead.
  • Taskbar preview icons are unexpectedly small on high-DPI devices.
  • Quicken will fail to run with an error stating .NET 4.6.1 is not installed. For Insiders familiar with Registry Editor, there is an optional workaround. Take ownership of the following registry keys and edit the "version" value to be 4.6.XXXXX instead of 4.7.XXXXX:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Client
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full

Note: Please take caution when editing the registry. Changing the wrong value can have unexpected and undesirable results.

  • Using CTRL + C to copy in Command Prompt won’t work.
  • Some websites in Microsoft Edge may unexpectedly show "We can’t reach this page". If you encounter this, please try accessing the site from an InPrivate tab.
  • Dragging apps from the all apps list to pin on Start’s tile grid won’t work. For now, please right-click on the desired app in order to pin it.
  • Miracast sessions will fail to connect.
  • On certain hardware types (e.g.: Acer Aspire), the Netflix app crashes when starting a movie.
  • 3rd party UWP apps would crash on devices if the DPI settings on the machine are >=150% (Generally people do this on high resolution devices – Surface book etc.).
  • If you upgrade from Windows 8.1 directly to Build 15002, all your store apps are lost during upgrade process but you can go and re-download all the lost apps from the Store.
  • When using Microsoft Edge with Narrator, you may hear "no item in view" or silence while tabbing or using other navigation commands. You can use Alt + Tab when this happens to move focus away from and back to the Edge browser. Narrator will then read as expected.
  • Saying "Hey Cortana, play <item> on <AppName>" doesn’t work immediately after installing the app. Wait 5 minutes for indexing to begin and try again.
  • ADDED: Under Settings > Update & security > Windows Update you might see the text "Some Settings are managed by your organization" even though your PC isn’t being managed by an organization. This is a bug caused by an updated flight configuration setting for Insider Preview builds and does not mean your PC is being managed by anyone.

Mobile improvements

Build 15002 was PC only, so Build 15007 is something of a treat for Mobile users. In this build you can reset apps back to their original state. Go to Settings > System > Storage, open the advanced settings for the app and you’ll see a 'Reset' option.

Cortana can now control music playback for certain music apps (EN-US only for now) and you can use your voice to control playback and volume.

If you want to know what song is playing in a music app, you can find out by saying "Hey Cortana, What’s Playing?"

There are more recurrence options for reminders in Cortana, and web payment support has been added, although just as in the PC build you can’t do anything with this at the moment.

The Settings improvements that appeared in Build 15002 are now available on Mobile, and device settings have been updated too.

There’s also the ability to pause updates for up to 35 days on Mobile.

Other changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile

  • In response to user feedback, alarm sounds will start at a slightly higher volume level. (They will then ramp up to full volume, as before).
  • Fixed an issue Insiders with certain devices, such as the Lumia 950, may have experienced where their phone sometimes took an unexpectedly long time to show up after connecting to their PC.
  • Fixed an issue where System related notification toasts (e.g. Bluetooth, USB/Autoplay, etc.) didn’t work.
  • Microsoft has updated the experience when using Cortana to receive incoming SMS messages over Bluetooth to make it more reliable. To enable this feature if it is not already, open Cortana settings and make sure one of the following Bluetooth options is on: "Bluetooth and wired headsets" or "Bluetooth only".
  • Fixed an issue where video recorded in portrait mode might not playback with the correct aspect ratio.
  • Fixed an issue on recent Insider builds resulting in the Skype Preview tile not updating with an alert badge when a new message had been received.
  • Fixed an issue where certain websites pinned to Start from Microsoft Edge when tapped would perform a web search rather than opening to that page.
  • Fixed an issue where the SIM Pin dialog would display truncated text in certain languages.
  • Fixed an issue that could result in the phone getting stuck at the Goodbye screen when rebooting if Bluetooth was enabled.
  • Fixed an issue resulting in the Outlook Calendar sometimes displaying the wrong date on its live tile after a new day has begun.
  • Fixed a bug that was preventing Notification Listener apps (like wearable apps) from accessing notifications on recent builds.

Known issues for Mobile

  • The Windows Hello greeting is missing from the lock screen. Showing the animation and user name is important for letting you know you’ve been securely identified. Of course, we also recognize the essential purpose of the Windows Hello feature is getting you to your Start screen without delay.  We’re working hard to make sign-in as quick as possible across all Windows Hello scenarios.
  • AAD Identity Settings Sync: You may not see your Favorites or Reading List roam down in Microsoft Edge if you try to immediately open these tabs after opening Microsoft Edge. You can open Microsoft Edge, wait 30 seconds, and then open favorites and Reading List to see content.
  • AAD Identity Settings Sync: Microsoft Edge does not sync Reading List from PC to phone unless there is a restart.
  • AAD Identity Settings Sync: Microsoft Edge is syncing passwords on phone but not showing them in "saved passwords" in Microsoft Edge settings.
  • When you receive a new email notification and tap on it to open the message, it doesn’t open the Mail app or message.
  • New option to pause updates contains text referencing PC-only Windows Defender.
  • Insiders with certain devices, such as the Lumia 635 and 636, may not be able to manually change the brightness. The brightness will still automatically adjust if it is set to do so, so please use that for the time being while Microsoft investigates.
  • The ninja cat emoji display in two characters on the keyboard instead of the expected one.
  • Adding a new card / paying with an existing card will not work in Microsoft Wallet.

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock

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