The challenge, as usual, is to get to a build that can be used as the basis for the over the air upgrade for regular Windows Phone 8.1 users. We were expecting these upgrades to start happening just before Christmas (to the Lumia 640 etc.), but everything got delayed by the holidays. The new expected start date for this rollout is now err... late February. Ish. At least there are clues in the fixes below that the focus on the upgrade experience is there.
Our editorial devices are updating as I write this (the usual spinning cogs for half an hour), comments welcome if you have particular observations.
Note that if you don't see this update (10586.107) then you probably need to go back into the 'Windows Insiders' application and approve access to the 'fast ring' again. This may involve signing in again and also restarting the phone.
Along with the new OS build comes yet another 'Configuration Update' - just roll with it and trust Microsoft on these.
From Microsoft:
...This update includes some additional fixes:
- Fixed an issue where in some cases a device could be missing tiles on the Start screen after going through the device out of box experience.
- Improved support in Narrator to speak in multiple languages.
- Improvements to the device reset experience when BitLocker\Device Encryption is enabled by enterprise policy or by the user.
Today we are introducing a new ring named the Windows Insider Release Preview ring for both PC and mobile. The Release Preview ring will focus on Insiders that want to stay on the Current Branch (currently builds based off of 10586), but continue to receive early access to updates, application updates, and driver updates.
The 3 Windows Insider rings are:
- Fast – Best for Insiders who enjoy being the first to get access to builds and feature updates, with some risk to their devices in order to identify issues, and provide suggestions and ideas to make Windows software and devices great.
- Slow – Best for Insiders who enjoy getting early access to builds and feature updates, with less risk to their devices, and still want to provide feedback to make Windows software and devices great.
- Release Preview – Best for Insiders who enjoy getting early access to updates for the Current Branch, Microsoft applications, and drivers, with minimal risk to their devices, and still want to provide feedback to make Windows devices great.
For more details on branches and our rings, check out one the first post in our new series called ‘Inside WDG’ here in Insider Hub.
Sounds like 'Fast' is about to take a leap off into the unknown into 'Redstone' territory and the next generation of Windows 10 Mobile! In fact, with the 'Production' tier inside the 'Windows Insider' application. we'll now have FOUR different options - in order of riskiness (in my opinion):
- Fast - the highest risk
- Release Preview - latest patches and code, so some risk there, but within the current branch (10586, in this case, i.e.'Threshold')
- Slow - occasional test builds only (though on the Redstone branch, which seems a little of a contradiction in terms!)
- Production - a jump to production status to pick up vanilla device-specific firmware updates
The delays for the Windows 10 Mobile updates to every day users on Windows Phone 8.1 is unfortunate, but if you've been living with W10M day to day like me then you'll know that there are lots of little annoyances which would be frustrating showstoppers to anyone not as patient and as err.... enthusiastic about the OS as us. There's no point in rolling all this out until it's 99.9% ready. 95% just isn't good enough.
For the AAWP staff, we're going to run with one device on 'Fast', one on 'Release Preview' and one on 'stock' Windows 10 Mobile, plus a raft of older phones on 8.1 etc. This should let us catch and report on any significant updates to any of these devices and OS builds. Phew!