Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 20246, and removes a number of big features

If you’re an Insider on the Dev Channel, you can today download a new Windows 10 build. This one is different from previous such releases however, as it comes from a new branch.

Windows 10 Build 20246, like future Dev Channel flights, will now come from the FE_RELEASE branch. That’s not all though. This release also removes various new features.

SEE ALSO: The 'Future Vision' of Windows 10 is everything we could hope for

This build loses the updated emoji picker, redesigned touch keyboard, voice typing, theme-aware splash screens, and other features. Don’t panic though; their removal is only temporary. Microsoft plans to bring them back to insiders in future builds.

The preview experience of the Calendar app will be removed in a future update also, going back to its classic look.

The main addition in this build is:

• Microsoft has added automatic Linux distro installation to the wsl.exe --install command! This means that users who wish to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux quickly can just type in wsl.exe –install into the command line and then will have a fully set up WSL instance ready to go, including their Linux distro of choice.

Fixes in this build are:

• Fixed an issue causing some devices experiencing a KMODE_EXCEPTION bugcheck when using certain virtualization technologies.
• Fixed an issue causing devices running Malwarebytes Web Protection to no longer be able to connect to the network.
• Fixed an issue causing some devices to receive a DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL bugcheck on tcpip.sys.
• Fixed an issue that could result in the Pick Time button in the Windows Update dialog not doing anything.
• Fixed an issue where hovering over a thumbnail in Task View would display an unexpected border around the item.
• Fixed an issue where chkdsk could appear to be stuck at 100 percent due to not printing the message saying it was done.
• Fixed an issue that could result in a crash when disconnecting certain audio devices while playing audio in recent builds.
• Fixed an issue where the Windows Update page in Settings could fail to load if connected to a Wi-Fi network with no internet connection.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing sometimes when clicking the Update and Security category.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Storage Settings unexpectedly showing incorrect category sizes (a higher number than what was visible in File Explorer).
• Fixed an issue that could lead to a crash when managing partition size in Storage Settings.
• Fixed an issue that stopped GPU compute scenarios such as CUDA and DirectML not working for some users inside of the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Known issues are:

• Microsoft is investigating reports of installing games from the Store to a secondary non-OS drive will result in the secondary drive becoming inaccessible. To prevent this from occurring you must change the default storage for new content to the secondary drive PRIOR to installing the game. This can be done in Settings > Storage > Change where new content is saved.
• Microsoft is looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
• Live previews for pinned sites aren’t enabled for all Insiders yet, so you may see a grey window when hovering over the thumbnail in the taskbar. Microsoft is continuing to work on polishing this experience.
• Microsoft is working on enabling the new taskbar experience for existing pinned sites. In the meantime, you can unpin the site from the taskbar, remove it from the edge://apps page, and then re-pin the site.
• Microsoft is working on a fix for an issue causing some devices to experience a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION bugcheck.
• Microsoft is investigating an issue reported by some Insiders wherein the taskbar is obscuring the Power button in the Start menu. If this is happening on your PC, you may need to use the Windows key plus X menu to shutdown for the time being.
• Windows Insiders on ARM PCs such as the Surface Pro X will notice that Windows PowerShell will fail to launch on this build. As a workaround, please use "Windows PowerShell (x86)" or "Windows PowerShell ISE (x86)" from the Start menu if you need to use PowerShell. Or download the new and modern PowerShell 7 which takes advantage of ARM by running natively. Plus the icon is prettier.