This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

Windows 10 desktop

A new Windows x Insider Preview build, available at present, gives some finish users the ability to defer updates and avoid baked-in driver installations arriving at the same time. The new changes have been made in response to longstanding consumer grievances, only they don't go nearly far enough to satisfy most users who are unhappy with the status quo. The new Insider Preview Build (15002) introduces a number of new features and changes, merely nosotros'll hit these two first.

Build 15002 adds an pick that allows users to pause updates on their computers for up to 35 days, accessed under the "Advanced" options page of Windows Update Settings. Separately, Windows will besides allow users to determine if they want to include driver updates when they update Windows. Previously, driver downloads could be blocked from Device Director, merely this new setting appears to give users an boosted mode to preclude driver updates by blocking them every bit function of Windows Update. In that location is, however, a substantial catch: You have to exist running Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise, or Instruction to take reward of these settings.

On the ane hand, we're glad to see Microsoft taking some steps to give users more control over their hardware. But there'due south no reason why these features shouldn't exist extended to Windows 10 Habitation Premium. Why is the ability to defer updates for 35 days to see if they have problems something only professional person users might want to do? We've seen a number of flaws in updates shoved out to Windows 10 users over the past 18 months, from Anniversary Update issues with well-nigh all webcams to USB issues with Amazon'south Kindle that bluish-screened PCs every bit presently every bit the latter was plugged in. Wanting to expect a scrap over a calendar month to install updates isn't crazy given Microsoft's track record of breaking things, and the company has already said sure types of updates, similar Windows Defender security updates, will be pushed out regardless.

Similarly, in what universe are professionals the only people who might have problems with a commuter file? At i betoken earlier this year, I was swapping out a GeForce GTX 980 Ti for a GTX 980. The most recent Nvidia drivers had already been installed, and swapping back to the older GTX 980 should take been seamless. At first, it seemed to exist — but while I was watching, my Windows 10 testbed chose to remove the most recent Nvidia driver and substitute the GeForce commuter Windows 10 had launched with. This constituted more than than a year of rollback, and if I hadn't been watching the monitor when it happened I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. Not allowing Microsoft to manage driver installations is a smart move, non some erudite pick people never demand to use.

It's non articulate what game Microsoft is playing with these updates, just it'due south a game the company'southward customers won't appreciate. As I've stated before, I support the idea of mandatory security and antivirus updates, but users should have the selection to delay non-security updates, especially given Microsoft's rails record the past eighteen months. The only alternative at this point is for users to turn Windows Update off altogether. While I can't recommend doing that, I also can't blame people who are fed upward with having software shoved into their PC without their consent.

Other new features

There are some other new features arriving in Build 15002 that finish-users might be interested in. Microsoft Edge is getting a tab-preview mode (Microsoft seems to have cribbed this from the new Vivaldi browser, which offers it enabled by default, though I'm certain the thought has been effectually for longer). Tab preview lets you see a thumbnail image of each tab rather than only a title bar, as shown below:

edge1v2

Edge will also let people to "set aside" tabs to consider them in a afterward session, like the Chromium extension OneTab, and Jump Lists are now supported and flash is blocked from running by default. Edge also at present supports Microsoft'south new Payment Request API, which should be of great comfort to the 10 people forced to have payments via Microsoft Edge. Microsoft is also introducing the ability to group Get-go Tiles into folders, via Tile Folders. There's apparently no plan to bring an equivalent option to the "All Apps" list, fifty-fifty though forcing that list into alphabetical order makes it extremely inconvenient if you remember the name of an awarding, simply not the name of the corporation that manufactures it.

Microsoft is adding a new feature that allows Windows to override an awarding's display scaling, in the hopes that this will allow for a more consistent experience rather than the occasionally blurry interface you see when apps use bitmap stretching to calibration UI elements at present.

compat

The total details on these changes, equally well as Microsoft's complete alter list, are all bachelor at the above link. Overall, it's a solid crop of improvements, even if few of them are standouts. Just Microsoft really needs to deal with its cleaved update model and bifurcated customer market once and for all. Make non-security updates optional, and give all Windows ten users access to these controls, not just those with special variants of the operating organisation.

Now read: Windows 10: The best hidden features, tips, and tricks