Microsoft release the first RS5 build for Windows Insiders on the fast ring

Redstone 4 development is over and so Microsoft have released the first Redstone 5 build for Windows Insiders on the fast ring. The build is 17661 and is also available for Windows Insiders using the Skip Ahead option with the only difference being the availability of Sets. Redstone 5 introduced Sets (tabbed Windows) but Windows Insiders receiving the build via the Fast Ring won’t get the Sets, Insiders with the Skip Ahead option will continue to have access to the new Sets feature. Microsoft say this is so they can do more focused testing of the feature.

The build has a new snipping app called Screen Sketch which is optimised for sharing:

Today we’re taking the first step toward converging our snipping experiences. The new modern snipping experience is here to help you effortlessly capture and annotate what you see on your screen. While working on this we’ve been carefully going over all your feedback about taking screenshots in Windows – you’ll find the flow and tools are optimized for sharing and make communicating visually with others quick and easy.

You can take a snip from a device like the Surface Pen and there is an option in Action Center to take screen shots.

Other changes to the build include:

• acrylic in Task View
• Windows Security improvements
• Improved HEIC support

Here are the other changes and known issues. Lookout for my hands on video soon.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

• We’ve made a number of improvements to how Narrator communicates the use of Sets – for example, Narrator will now inform you of the tabs by reading information such as Tab # N of M as you open and move between tabs. If you’re a Narrator user, please take a moment to try out Sets with today’s build and share feedback about the experience.
• When you clean install or do a PC refresh, you’ll find that the Out of Box Experience for setting up your PC now includes a page for enabling activity history sync, which will help you continue what you were doing, even when you switch devices.
• We’ve adjusted how you access skin tones in the Emoji Panel – you’ll now see a row of skin tone colors to select from when people emoji are in view.
• We fixed an issue where using arrow and Page Up / Page Down keys didn’t work to scroll webpages in Microsoft Edge.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the mouse cursor becoming invisible when hovering over certain UI elements and text fields in the last two flights.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the mouse cursor not animating correctly in the last two flights.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the Game Bar not appearing for some Insiders after pressing WIN+G.
• When you hover over the Windows icon in the taskbar, a tooltip will now appear for Start.
• We’ve updated the design of the handwriting panel so that the delete button is now a top level button. The button to switch languages is now under the “…” menu.
• If you go to Pen & Windows Ink Settings, you’ll find a new option that allows your pen to behave like a mouse instead of scrolling or panning the screen.

 Known issues

• Certain notifications from Action Center may cause regular Explorer.exe crashes. We’re working to get this fixed in the next flight.
• VPN may not be working after updating to this build. To get VPN working again, delete the %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\pbk* directories. Check if the VPN profile you need shows up already and if not, reinstall the appropriate VPN client app you need.
• After updating to this build and installing the latest app updates from the Microsoft Store, when you log in to additional user accounts on the PC there may be missing apps. You can run the following PowerShell script when logged in to users with missing apps on your PC to fix the issue: Get-AppXPackage *WindowsStore* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
• On resuming from sleep, the desktop may be momentarily visible before the Lock screen displays as expected.
• When Movies & TV user denies access to its videos library (through the “Let Movies & TV access your videos library?” popup window or through Windows privacy settings), Movies & TV crashes when the user navigates to the “Personal” tab.
• We’re aware of an issue that causes Narrator to read extra text when invoking Alt + Tab, and we’re working on a fix.
• If you complete the setup for a Windows Mixed Reality headset on this build, the headset will remain black until it is unplugged and reconnected to the PC.

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