Microsoft has released its latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build 10162 to Slow Ring this Thursday, making it their third preview build being rolled out in a single week. The new build comes with better reliability, improved performance and battery life, and compatibility than any other Windows 10 build so far, according to Microsoft’s Gabe Aul.
The ISOs are also available for Windows 10 build 10162 now, implying that anyone can now perform a clean install of this build or even upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to the latest Windows 10 build. Users interested can head over to the Windows Insider Program page and download the new build.
Being the third build being rolled out in just a four-day span, makes one wonder the speed with which Microsoft is rolling out back to back preview builds. As the OS is in its final stage, and the company is primarily focusing on bug fixes, so more frequent new builds are expected. Hence, there are no major features that are being added to the OS as well.
In addition, there’s something substantial coming this week which should keep Insiders at the edge of their seats. Reports claim that the Redmond giant plans to roll out a Release-To-Manufacturing (RTM) build which will reportedly be heading to OEMs on Monday July 13th, before it starts rolling out on July 29th.
Windows 10 RTM Build [10.0.10176.16384] #Windows10 #Microsoft #WindowsInsiders pic.twitter.com/breHEavkl9
— Windows Valley (@windowsvalley) July 6, 2015
However, it doesn’t really mean that the forthcoming OS is complete, given Microsoft’s new ‘Windows-as-a service’ approach as there won’t be major system launches. The RTM build that’ll be shipped to manufacturers is not the final product; rather it’ll be the foundation on which future updates will be released to users.
“We are not yet done, we will never be done,” notes Windows chief Terry Myerson on Windows 10 development.
Meanwhile, a lot of Windows Insiders are having activation issues after installing Build 10162. This usually happens while changing the product key which displays the following message on Windows 10:
“You need to activate Windows before you can personalize your PC,” but still doesn’t allow proper activation. Microsoft though has responded to the issue and says the activation is being worked out.
“We are doing some testing and work on the Activation process. That message is expected and we hope it will go away in the next day. When we have the service back up and running, it should attempt to activate automatically. Until then you can ignore it because I believe other than the UI showing it’s not activated, it’s not affecting any other use of the system,” said Microsoft.
Microsoft seems all geared to launch the Windows 10 on July 29, while Visual Studio 2015 launches July 20.
