Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview for PCs with Cortana, Edge, and Skype improvements

Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs with a slew of improvements. The latest build includes tweaks to Cortana’s music feature, the Edge browser, and Skype integration.

Windows 10 is a service. As we wrote in our deep dive on how Microsoft is still building Windows 10, this means Windows Insiders are getting new builds even though the operating system launched in July 2015.

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First up, it’s now easier to search for music in Cortana. There is now a music search icon in the top right which you can click to have Cortana listen and search for the song that’s currently playing.

Next, Microsoft Edge has gained three new features. The Favorite bar is more customizable: When you right-click it, you can now add new folders and choose to have it only show the favicons.

You can now also clear browsing data when you exit Edge (Settings => Choose what to clear => Clear browser data => Always clear this after I close the browser). Lastly, Edge can now be configured to show a prompt when you start a download, allowing you to choose where to save the file (Settings => Downloads settings) — this was a big request from testers that I, personally, am surprised wasn’t included from day one.

As for Skype, the messaging functionality now makes it easier to send images. You can attach photos by clicking or tapping on the paperclip icon in the lower left corner while composing a new message, or invoke the Camera app to take a photo or send your location.

This build also includes the following bug fixes:

• Choosing “Reset This PC” under Settings > Update & Security > Recovery should now work as expected.
• You should no longer see a WSClient.dll error dialog after logging in.
• The front-facing camera should be usable again on PCs with Intel RealSense cameras, and you should be able to use Windows Hello again.
• An issue where incorrect storage capacity was provided for the system volume (the hard drive Windows is installed on) under Settings > System > Storage has been fixed.

Last, but not least, this build has just one known issue: If you’re using Hyper-V and upgrade to this build with more than one vswitch or with multiple virtual networking adapters, you may lose connectivity. To get network connectivity back, you have two workaround options:

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• Remove all the virtual network adapters connected to the vswitch, delete the vswitch and recreate it, then reconnect their virtual NIC to the new vswitch.
• Fire up admin command prompt, execute “netcfg -d” to nuke all the vswitch settings so that you can start from scratch.

Today’s update bumps the Windows 10 build number from 14257, made available to testers on February 3, to build 14267.

The update should arrive overnight for testers (your PC has to be plugged in, and be on or sleeping). If you’re OK with the above known issues and want to get build 14267 now, head to PC Settings, select “Update and recovery,” then “Preview builds,” and then click the “Check Now” button.

Also today, Microsoft shared that students and teachers running Windows 10 Education can receive Insider Preview builds. To join the program, go to Settings => Update & security => Advanced options => opt-in your PC.