Everything you need to know about Windows 10 build 10565

Windows 10 build 10565 is out. There are a number of changes in this build. If you are curious to know what is new in this build, read this article.

Microsoft now works on making continuous changes to Windows 10 so the experience changes in every build. Windows has completely switched to a new model of distribution - the OS-as-a-service model. There will be no new major versions branded differently but just updates to the existing software. Eventually, Windows may become a paid subscription, especially for enterprise customers. For consumers, it is not clear if it will be a paid subscription or an initial license cost must be paid once the 1 year free upgrade offer expires. You can read the following article for more details: Windows 10 has many new editions and a new branch-based update model.

Changes which appear in current Windows 10 Insider Preview builds are expected to be included in Threshold 2, the major update for Windows 10 RTM build 10240. The Threshold 2 update is expected in November 2015.

Minor changes appear everywhere in this build. This is the "About Windows" dialog:

As we covered earlier in our article about determining the Windows build, the About dialog shows the OS version and the build number.

The following new features are bundled with this officially released build:

1. Activation improvements: Now you are able to use your Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 key to activate Windows 10 directly. You need not upgrade the installed Windows version to Windows 10. All you need is a genuine key of the older release. Type it in Windows 10 and you are done.
2. Plenty of new icons. Users who already tried previous builds might be familiar with these icons:
3. Cortana is able to understand your inked notes - setting reminders based on locations, times and numbers that it can understand from your digital annotations.
4. Updates to the Microsoft Edge browser feature the following changes:
   • The ability to sync Favorites and Reading list items in Microsoft Edge between your devices.
   • Tab previews. All mainstream browsers have this feature, now Edge has it too.
   • Updated interface for the Download manager.
   • Updated interface for Developer Tools, which can be docked now.
5. Skype messaging, calling and video capabilities are integrated in Windows 10 through the Messaging, Phone and Skype video universal Windows apps respectively.
6. You could have colored title bars since Windows 10 build 10547. Now, the title bars will use darker colors. You can adjust the color by going to Settings > Personalization > Colors. Colored title bars will appear only if “Show color on Start, Taskbar, Action Center, and Title bars” is enabled. This is how it looks:
7. The Start menu got updated context menus with icons:
   
8. Windows 10 build 10565 introduces a new behavior for printing that makes your default printer the last printer you used. This change helps ensure the best printer is pre-selected in default print dialogs. You can change this behavior to make it work like the previous way Windows handled default printers from Settings > Devices > Printer & Scanners. The ability to set a default printer by network location which was added in Windows 7 has been removed.

Microsoft claims the following bug fixes were made in build 10565.

• You should no longer see a warning message in the Settings app -> Update & Security -> Windows Update about the OS upgrade ring settings changed for preview builds unless you explicitly change your ring settings.
• Background audio playback works again when apps like Groove are minimized.
• Fixed the issue where clicking quickly on system tray icons in the notification area resulted in the Windows Shell blocking the launch of flyouts like audio, networking, power etc.
• After Build 10525, there was an outcry from users that some context menus were too big for the mouse, so Microsoft has made some of the context menus smaller.
• You can now pin contacts to the Start menu from the People app as you could do in Windows 8.
• Certain apps won't appear twice any more when pinned to the taskbar.
• Hiding desktop icons via the context menu on the desktop works now. This was broken in an earlier build.
• Windows Store apps should now be updating automatically. This too was broken in an earlier build.

And, finally, here is a list of known issues in Windows 10 build 10565:

• The search box does not work if you are in a locale where Cortana is not available.
• The Xbox app for Windows 10 will consume several gigabytes of memory on your PC if you have any Win32 games (non -Windows Store games) installed that have been identified as games or added by you in the Xbox app. Closing the Xbox app will release your PC’s memory.
• WebM and VP9 codecs have been temporarily removed from Insider builds. Expect VP9 to return soon in a future release.
• Small form-factor devices, like the Dell Venue 8 Pro, that boot with rotation or virtual mode screen size set larger than the physical screen size will experience a bluescreen on upgrade and will roll back to the previous build.

I tried Windows 10 build 10565 in VirtualBox. This is the first Windows 10 build which is completely unusable in VirtualBox. The Start menu looks terrible:

The whole Metro user interface flickers and disappears from time to time. I hope this is a bug which can be fixed, not some by-design change due to some hardware acceleration requirement in Windows 10, otherwise this OS will become unusable in virtual machines like already some of its components like Photo Viewer are.