Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview for PCs

Microsoft yesterday released a new Windows 10 preview for PCs featuring a small but important change to Windows Update. This build comes from the RS4 branch, which represents the next Windows 10 update the company is yet to announce (but is likely to ship soon). The RS5 branch, meanwhile, has not come out with a no new build.

Windows 10 is a service, which means it was built very differently from its predecessors to allow for regular updates, not just fixes, but new features, too. Four major updates have been released by Microsoft so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, and Fall Creators Update.

According to experts, there is one major addition to the release - Windows Update has been tweaked to be more proactive at keeping PCs updated. When Windows Update scans, downloads, and installs updates on a PC that is plugged in, it will prevent the PC from going to sleep when it is not in active use for up to 2 hours. The goal is to ''give Windows Update more opportunity to succeed,'' the team explains.

The build includes several general bug fixes and improvements. It fixes an issue where Settings would crash when users tried to open Themes and several others.

Microsoft said in its blog, ''In an effort to prevent PCs from becoming out of date, we are introducing a change in behavior to Windows Update that is designed to be more proactive at keeping PCs updated. In RS4, now when Windows Update scans, downloads, and installs on a PC with AC power – it will prevent the PC from going to sleep when it is not in active use, for up to 2 hours when receiving an update in order to give Windows Update more opportunity to succeed. If you are not seeing this new behavior, let us know by sending in feedback via Feedback Hub.''

''We fixed an issue where Settings would crash when you tried to open Themes.

We fixed an issue where the Settings tile didn't have a name if you pinned it to Start.

We've updated About Settings to include at a glance entries for the two new Windows Defender pillars (Account Protection and Device Security).

We fixed a typo in Storage Sense Settings.

We fixed an issue resulting in all dropdowns in Settings appearing blank until clicked.

We fixed an issue that could result in Settings crashing after having navigated to and left Sound Settings.

We fixed an issue where closing certain apps after using in-app search could result in them hanging on the splash screen the next time they were launched.''