This week Microsoft surprised us with a Redstone 5 Preview build for HoloLens the first RS5 Preview build for the device. Microsoft did not release any details of build 17686, so I have to play around and find out. Probably most of the improvements are under the covers but there are some visual changes and a couple of bugs.

Dark Mode

After installing the build and then doing a factor reset I seem to have Dark Mode on by default. There is no option to switch modes at the OS level but you switch been modes in some of the apps.

Settings, the Microsoft Store and other apps look rather elegant in the OS. I would like to see the option to switch it on and off in a future update.

Fluent Design

Many of the reveal effects are more prevalent

Microsoft Edge

The web browser now has the new look menu just as the PC Redstone 5 build does.

OneNote

After never working for me, now OneNote works fine in HoloLens RS5 Preview!

Bugs found so far

  • Bloom stops working from time to time and you need a reboot to bring it back
  • I was unable to add gmail accounts to the Outlook app, it hangs in the adding account screen
  • At first the Hologams app wouldn’t pop out any Hologam objects but that cleared its self-up after 24 hours

Here is my first look at HoloLens RS5 Preview:

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