Windows 10 Technical Preview bags first update

An update to the Windows 10 Technical Preview has been made available to download and contains nearly 7,000 improvements, as well as a host of new features.

The new Windows 10 Build, 9860, comes with a set of new features.

Among them is support for Action Centre that has been brought over from Windows Phone. This allows users to see and follow-up on all actionable items. At present this is only for basic notifications, such as Facebook posts and emails.

There is also hot key support that enables apps to be moved from one monitor to another using the Windows Key, Control and an arrow key.

Microsoft set out a list of new keyboard shortcuts for navigating and managing multiple desktops here in this blog post.

Also new is animation for switching desktops. In a blog post, Microsoft said user feedback suggests people found it hard to know when desktops were switching, so the animation should make that more apparent now.

The update will also allow testers to move between "slow lane" and "fast lane" updates. By default, all testers will be in the slow lane but by changing it to fast, users can get build updates the day they come out.

"If you want to wait a bit and let others find any gotchas so that the community gets caught up with known issues and workarounds, then you'll want to stay in the slow' ring," said Gabe Aul from the Data & Fundamentals Team within Microsoft's Operating Systems Group.

He added that Microsoft would continue to push out updates as part of the Windows Insider Program.

"Sometimes they'll be more frequent and sometimes there will be longer gaps, but they will always be chock-full of changes and improvements, as well as some bugs and things that are not quite done. As we've said, we're sharing stuff early and moving quickly to do so," he said.

He added that any opinions on the builds should be made via the Windows Feedback app.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.