Microsoft has rolled out Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 with new features and improvements. The preview build is available for Windows Insiders in the Dev channel. According to Microsoft, the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 is being pushed from the active Development Branch and not related to any of the forthcoming Windows 10 releases. If you are part of the Dev Channel, you will receive the latest code for the Redmond engineers.
Microsoft also announced the official rollout of the channels to the Windows Insider Program Settings page. You can easily transition from rings to channels. Microsoft has introduced new features in the Build 20161 but they will be available only to select group of Insiders in the Dev Channel followed by global rollout. The main purpose for the Dev Channel availability is to identify potential issues that could impact not only reliability but also performance. The update is being available in a phased manner among Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 includes features such as theme-aware tiles in Start menu, ALT + TAB between apps and sites, personalized Taskbar, enhanced notification experience, improved settings dashboard. Moreover, the latest Windows 10 update provides improved tablet experience for convertibles.
Improved Themed Tiles in Start menu
The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 includes a streamlined Start menu design, which removes the solid color backplates behind the logos in the apps list. You will be able to view a uniform and transparent background to the tiles. The design ships with Fluent Design icons for Office and Microsoft Edge including redesigned icons for the integrated apps such as Mail, Calculator, and Calendar. According to Microsoft, the refined Start menu design looks impressive in both dark and light themes. You can apply accent colors to the frame and tiles by activating Windows dark theme and navigating to “Show accent color on the following surfaces” for “Start, taskbar, and action center” located under Settings | Personalization | Color option.
ALT + TAB between apps and sites
You can now view all the opened tabs in Microsoft Edge by hitting Alt+TAB key. The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 also provides a facility to customize the settings by navigating to Settings | System | Multitasking. You can configure in such a way that it shows only the last three to five tabs. It is also possible to deactivate this feature completely. This new feature is currently pushed to Windows Insiders in the Dev channel. It requires a Canary or Dev build of Microsoft Edge version 83.0.475.0 or higher.
Customized Taskbar
The Taskbar will deliver content based on the layouts employed by the user directly from the cloud-driven infrastructure. Windows 10 will automatically keep track of individual default properties including monitoring of diagnostic data. The system will also monitor user feedback to gauge audience reception. This functionality will be limited to new accounts or first login scenarios.
Enhanced notifications
The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161 also brings in improved notifications in Windows 10. Microsoft has deactivated the Focus Assist notification and summary toast but can be changed via Settings.
Improved Settings
After the installation of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20161, you will find that the information on the Control Panel’s System page has been migrated to Settings | System | About. You can now easily copy the device information including the ability to streamline the security information.
Microsoft has introduced several new improvements in the preview build including improved tablet experience for convertibles. Microsoft also launched Windows Calculator graphing mode, which is currently rolling out to the public. The company also launched a new version of the Windows Insider website. The new updates will be made available in a phased manner.
