Latest Insider build shows Microsoft is nearing its Fall Creators Update release

By Kevin Parrish Published September 20, 2017

Windows 10 Home vs. Pro — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Heads up Windows Insiders: A new build of Windows 10 is out, but don’t expect a major release. Now that the Fall Creators Update is essentially baked in the Redmond, Washington oven, the team is now ironing out the bugs and performing tweaks to get the update pushed out to the masses. That said, the new Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16291 is hitting the Fast Ring only, and will likely be followed by another build in the coming days.

For this build, Microsoft enhances the capabilities of Windows 10’s “resume” feature so that you can load up the Cortana app for iOS and Android, and pick up where you left off from where you were reading news and articles on the PC. This aspect joins the current cross-device features already stuffed into Windows 10 such as getting SMS messages on the PC, and reminders across all synchronized devices.

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Outside the new resume addition, Build 16291 doesn’t offer anything new. Instead, you get a load of fixes for Windows 10 on PC. There are six in the entire list, addressing issues in the Skype UWP app, Outlook 2016, Microsoft Edge, Windows Update, and the F12 Developer Tools.

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In the related blog posted on Tuesday, Dona Sarkar of the Windows and Devices group also posted an update for Insiders hitting a nasty bug on the Surface Pro 3. According to the post, these device owners are experiencing an infinite load where Windows 10 will remain on the “spinning dots” screen if you installed Build 16288.1 last week, or Build 16291.

The workaround, listed here, includes creating a bootable USB image to reboot into the current build. That is only a temporary fix and gives you time to download an executable patch onto the device and install via Administrator mode. Microsoft is currently incorporating the fix into Windows 10 itself, but the team warns that if Surface Pro 3 owners have not come across the bug thus far, it’s still possible. Cross your fingers the Surface Pro 3 will hold out until the release of Build 16294.

“As we mentioned previously, we are now at the point of the development cycle for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update where our focus is now on stabilization for release to the world,” Sarkar said on Tuesday. “This means that we are releasing new builds to Insiders more quickly and that these builds will include mostly bug fixes.”

Microsoft introduced a new feature for Windows Insider Fast Ring participants called “Skip Ahead” in July. Located under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program, this branch provides all the updates currently in the pipeline for the Redstone 4 update (Fall Creators Update is Redstone 3). That is why Sarkar said the current build is only meant for participants in the Fast Ring.

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