Skip to main content

Windows 10 Build 10166 puts bugs in its sights, offers app for purchasing Wi-Fi access

windows 10 insiders on the fast ring can now download build 10166 windowsbuild10166
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Microsoft’s fast-and-furious round of updates continues this week with Build 10166, now available to Insiders with Windows 10 Preview and Fast Ring updates enabled.

Gabe Aul, in a post on Blogging Windows, said this new update keeps up the focus on bug-fixes and stability found in those released last week. “This build is all about bug fixing and fit-and-finish,” he wrote, while encouraging those using the build to use the Windows Feedback feature to provide information about any glitches or bugs encountered.

Recommended Videos

Unlike most builds, this one is flanked by a release of the Windows 10 SDK Preview. The SDK, or System Developer’s Kit, provides tools for building Windows 10 software. The new edition of the SDK also focuses on bugs and general improvements, and includes new “getter properties” related to email applications.

Build 10166 also has a special feature for those few Insiders living in the Seattle area, Microsoft’s home territory. Those users can try purchasing paid Wi-Fi access directly through the Microsoft Wi-Fi app, now available in the Windows Store. The app is meant to make it easier for anyone on-the-go to find and buy access to reliable, secure Wi-Fi. The app accepts payment from credit and debit cards, Microsoft Gift Cards, Paypal and certain wireless carriers.

Gabe Aul finished his Blogging Windows post by saying “now is definitely the time to upgrade to the most current build” if you’re still using an older version. Build 10166 is the newest available from the Fast Ring, and 10162 is the newest available for the Slow Ring and .ISO download.

The release of Windows 10 is just on the horizon, as the official date is still July 29th. It’s expected that only Insiders will be able to grab the “retail” version on that date, however, and Microsoft still hasn’t announced a RTM (release to manufacturing) build. That’s unusual, and indicative of how differently Windows 10 is being distributed compared to past Windows editions.

Matthew S. Smith
Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…
After 10 years of headaches, I’m finally a believer in Windows on ARM
The Microsoft Surface 3 with its blue keyboard.

Almost two years in, Apple is on the verge of completing its transition to ARM. It might surprise you to know, then, that Microsoft started its own journey to ARM chips long before Apple.

But Windows' support for ARM has been far less smooth. There aren't many more Windows devices with ARM chips than there were five years ago -- and I can attest to having personally used every failed attempt along the way.

Read more
Windows 11 might pull ahead of Windows 10 in one key way
Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating system logos are displayed on laptop screens.

Windows 11 has been around for nearly a year, but the debate on how it stands up against Windows 10 is still going strong. That's why custom computer builder Puget Systems revisited that very topic, with the results finding that Windows 11 might pull ahead of Windows 10 in one key area.

This one key area involves content creation, and Puget Systems detailed that in several tests, made gains over Windows 10 in the last year. Those gains are mainly due to monthly Windows 11 patches, and the launch of new CPUs. Yet Windows 10 also performed faster in some tests, too, where the hardware running the tests were the same.

Read more
Windows 11’s taskbar may get a handy feature from Windows 10
Laptop sitting on a desk showing Windows 11's built-in Microsoft Teams experience.

If you're a heavy multitasker in Windows 11, you might have noticed that your taskbar might be a little messy when you have too many apps open at once. Windows 10 had a handy overflow feature to help in that situation, and according to a noted Windows leaker on Twitter, it could soon make a comeback on Windows 11.

While Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything about this just yet, @thebookisclosed is the one who has the specifics of the feature. With it, you should be able to see and access all of your open apps in a new overflow bin in the Windows 11 taskbar.

Read more