Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18290, with Start menu improvements

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update might be a mess, but that’s not deterring Microsoft from putting in the hours on the next big feature update -- codenamed 19H1 -- due out next spring.

The latest release to Insiders on the Fast ring is Build 18290, and it comes with a number of improvements and additions.

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The most noticeable change is to the Start menu which gets a touch of Fluent design, making it look more attractive. Icons have also been added to the power and user menus. The Search and Cortana areas have been given a bit of a cleanup as well.

Also new in this build is an option in the Date & Time Settings that will let you manually synchronize your clock with the time server. If you suspect your PC clock might be showing the wrong time, this will let you check and correct the problem if you’re right.

You can now also check to see which app is using your microphone (just hover over the microphone icon to see), and when your PC has an update that requires a reboot, you’ll now be informed via an orange Windows Update indicator in the system tray.

General changes, improvements, and fixes in this build include:

• Fixed an issue resulting in PDFs opened in Microsoft Edge not displaying correctly (small, instead of using the entire space).
• Fixed an issue resulting in mouse wheel scrolling in many UWP apps and XAML surfaces being unexpectedly fast in recent builds.
• Made some updates to the taskbar to reduce the number of times you may see the icons redraw. Most noticeably when interacting with the recycle bin, although in other scenarios as well.
• Antivirus apps must run as a protected process to register with Windows and appear in the Windows Security app. If an AV app does not register, Windows Defender Antivirus will remain enabled.
• Fixed an issue resulting in the System unexpectedly consuming a high amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time when enumerating Bluetooth devices.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Cortana.Signals.dll crashing in the background.
• Fixed an issue that caused Remote Desktop to show a black screen for some users. This same issue could also cause freezes over Remote Desktop when using VPN.
• Fixed an issue resulting in mapped network drivers potentially displayed as Unavailable when using the net use command, and displaying a red X in File Explorer.
• Improved compatibility of Narrator with Chrome.
• Improved performance of Magnifier centered mouse mode.
• Fixed an issue where the Pinyin IME would always show English mode in the taskbar, even when typing in Chinese in the previous flight.
• Fixed an issue resulting in languages showing an unexpected "Unavailable input method" in their list of keyboards in Settings if you added the language via Language Settings in recent flights.
• The Japanese Microsoft IME introduced with Build 18272 will be returning to the one that shipped with the October 2018 Update.
• Added support for LEDBAT in uploads to Delivery Optimization peers on the same LAN (behind the same NAT). Currently LEDBAT is only used by Delivery Optimization in uploads to Group or Internet peers. This feature should prevent congestion on the local network and allow peer-to-peer upload traffic to back off instantly when the network is utilized for higher priority traffic.

Known issues in this build are:

• The hyperlink colors need to be refined in Dark Mode in Sticky Notes if the Insights are enabled.
• Settings page will crash after changing the account password or PIN, Microsoft recommends using the CTRL + ALT + DEL method to change the password
• Due to a merge conflict, the settings for enabling/disabling Dynamic Lock are missing from Sign-in Settings. Microsoft has a fix, which will flight soon.
• Settings crashes when clicking on the "View storage usage on other drives" option under System > Storage.
• The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.
• Delete previous version of Windows in Configure Storage Sense is not selectable.
• Settings will crash when opening Speech Settings.
• Insiders may see green screens with error System Service Exception in win32kbase.sys when interacting with certain games and apps. A fix will flight in an upcoming build.
• There’s an update block for this build in place for a small number of PCs that use Nuvoton (NTC) TPM chips with a specific firmware version (1.3.0.1) due to a bug causing issues with Windows Hello face/biometric/pin login not working. The issue is understood and a fix will flight to Insiders soon.