Windows 10 Technical Preview (build 10056) recently leaked outside Redmond and now the ISO files are easily available in file sharing and torrent sites. This is the latest build today and it’s a version of the operating system that includes significant changes in the user-interface, various improvements, and many updated apps.
While the software giant recently rolled out build 10049, build 10056 shows a ton of new things and we are probably going to see them soon, but until then you can check the list below with all the development information included in this leak:
Start
- Users can now resize the Start menu
- There are two columns of Live Tiles
- There is a new back button when viewing the All apps list
- The Power button is now showed above the All apps button
- There are a few new icons
- Tiles for traditional programs no longer take a color based on the icon of that tile, but they do take the window color
- Users can now easily disable transparency in the Start menu
- Recently installed apps are now displayed on the top of the All apps list
Cortana
- There is a new Find song option
- New Help section helps you with all the commands you can ask to the digital assistant
Project Spartan web browser
Since Windows 10 build 10051, you can:
- Save PDFs you opened in the browser
- Spartan now has an about:flags page with new options compared to Internet Explorer
Desktop
- The taskbar is now transparent
- The search box now uses the full height of the taskbar
- The TaskView button has a new icon
- A few icons have been updated
- The taskbar now features a dark theme by default, but you can now enable and disable the color of the taskbar and the Start menu
- There is a new calendar fly-out for the system tray
- Action Center now takes the system scheme color when enabling the taskbar and Start menu color option in Personalization
- Windows no longer take on a color and are now always gray
- There is a new Recycle bin icon, which is very similar to the icon from Windows 98
- “Screen resolution” option in the right-click contextual menu has been replaced with “Display settings”, which directs users to the Settings app
WinRT
- Windows apps no longer have a restricted minimum size
- Users will not notice that Microsoft is removing the full screen button next to the Minimize button, instead apps will go to full screen only when in Tablet Mode.
- The hamburger menu button in Windows apps has been removed from the title bar and now appear in the top-left corner of the actual app.
Apps
- Settings
- The app has received a minor design update
- Multiple new personalization settings have been added
- Privacy has two new entries: Radios and Account info
- Weather
- The Weather tile has a new color
- Weather has received a new UI
- Sports
- Sports has received a new UI
- Money
- Money has received a new UI
- News
- News has received a new UI
- The News app now has a black tile and blue interface
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection Preview
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection Preview is now a default app
- The app has, compared to its stable counterpart, a brand new UI
- Xbox app
- App has been updated with game clips, activity feed and profile changes, improvements on window sizing, now you can connect to Xbox One, remote control to Xbox One, and browse OneGuide.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].