Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview with finger gesture customizations, new Wi-Fi option

Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs and phones. This build adds customization options for three and four finger gestures and offers a new option to turn Wi-Fi back on after a certain time.

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. The most recent significant update is the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, released in August 2016.

First up, a new Settings section called Other gestures (under Settings => Devices => Touchpad) gives you basic customization options for your three and four finger gestures. There are four options for taps (Cortana, Action Center, play/pause, or middle mouse button) and for left/right swipes there are two (switching apps or switching virtual desktops). The reference diagrams have also been updated to show you what to expect when you swipe in a particular direction.

There’s also a new Advanced Gestures Configuration page with more configuration options. You can set gestures for next/previous song, creating/deleting virtual desktops, or snapping windows.

The Wi-Fi settings page on your PC (Settings => Network & Internet => Wi-Fi) now lets you select a time to “Turn Wi-Fi back on” after you turn it off. The default is “Manually,” meaning the behavior won’t be any different unless you specifically set a time.

The desktop build includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

• Optional components such as Hyper-V and Bash should remain installed after updating to this build.
• Fixed the issue where signing into games that use Xbox Live would not work. You should be able to sign-in to Xbox Live in games in this build.
• Fixed the issue causing Microsoft Edge to sometimes crash on launch, or when you type in address bar or try to open a new tab. You no longer need to run the PowerShell script.
• Fixed the issue causing touch scrolling to be too sensitive in Windows 10 apps, such as Microsoft Edge.
• Fixed an issue where Explorer.exe would hang when attempting to open considerably large .MOV files.
• Fixed an issue that could result in the network icon occasionally getting into a state where a red X would display in the taskbar despite an active internet connection, until the device had been restarted.
• Fixed an issue where if the device’s brightness was automatically adjusted after being woken from sleep, the brightness level shown in the Action Center’s Brightness Quick Action might not reflect the current brightness of the device.
• Fixed an issue leading to Narrator not tracking focus on the Start Menu All apps list or tiles.
• Fixed an issue potentially resulting in the “Open with…” dialog displaying with two entries for Calculator after tapping the Calculator key on a keyboard or running the Calculator app.

Today’s update bumps the Windows 10 build number for PCs from 14942 (made available to testers on October 7) to build 14946.

This build has two known issues:

• If you have 3rd party antivirus products such as Bitdefender, Kaspersky Antivirus, F-Secure Antivirus and Malwarebytes installed on your PC — your PC might not be able to complete the update to this build and roll-back to the previous build.
• Larger Windows Store games such as ReCore, Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Killer Instinct and Rise of the Tomb Raider may fail to launch.

If you’re OK with the above and want to get build 14946 now, head to PC Settings, select “Update and recovery,” then “Preview builds,” and then click the “Check Now” button.

The corresponding Windows 10 Mobile build also includes new features and improvements, but Microsoft has yet to announce new devices for the platform.