Windows 10 update

Windows 10 Build 10049 was released yesterday and I'm installing it on a "spare laptop" as I write this. It’s been less than two weeks since the last build release, so it looks like Microsoft is living up to its promise of more frequent updates.

As with all builds, this one fixes some bugs and breaks a few things (most notably Hyper-V seems to be broken in 10049.)

The big news with this build is the new browser, codenamed “Spartan”. Here is a brief list of features:

• It's designed to be a slim, fast browser, without all the legacy baggage
• Updates to Spartan will come from the Microsoft Store and are likely to be more frequent
• No legacy support, though Internet Explorer will still be around for businesses that need it
• New streamlined EdgeHTML engine for better performance
• Reader mode (suppressed junk, pop-ups, etc.)
• Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to SIRI, will be built in to the browser
• Web page annotation which will include “inking." The annotated page will be sharable (maybe with social media)

Windows 10 is still quite a ways from being able to use it for real, but I expect the next couple of builds to fix a lot of the little bugs that are normal this early in the release process.

For more details on Spartan, see Windows Blog.