Build 2015: Latest Windows 10 Preview Adds Aero Glass

Microsoft has added the Aero Glass interface to the latest technical preview of Windows 10, following feedback from testers.

The company said Aero Glass, which has been included in Windows Vista, 7 and 8, had been one of the most frequently requested features from Windows Insiders who have installed previous beta versions on their machines.

Half of the users who download the latest build will see normal transparency on the Start Menu, while the other half will witness a “blurred” effect. Microsoft will listen to feedback to see which option is preferred by users.

Windows 10 preview

Other user interface updates include new live tile animations for the Start Menu and better support for high DPI displays, while tablet users will now get a simplified taskbar and will be sent to the Start screen rather than the desktop when an application is closed.

Cortana has received a visual refresh to make it more “ingrained” with the rest of Windows 10 and the voice-activated personal assistant will also attempt to answer questions while a user is typing with the inclusion of ‘Bing Instant Answers’.

Microsoft has also added multi-tasking enhancements, new default Windows sounds, updated music and video preview apps and a new Xbox app featuring screenshots, live tiles and plug-and-play support for Xbox controllers.

The new build fixes a particularly annoying bug which prevented testers from launching Win32 desktop applications from the Start Menu, and another glitch which stopped Xbox Music and music preview apps from downloading music.

As with previous updates, a number of new issues have been introduced. Developers cannot enable ‘Developer Mode’ in the settings app for installing and testing software, while some games cannot be played in full screen mode and the ‘People’ app continues to crash. Updates for all three are on the way.

The latest version of the preview coincides with Microsoft’s Build developer conference in San Francisco where a number of new initiatives to encourage developers to support Windows 10 have been unveiled, as has the new ‘Microsoft Edge’ web browser.

It is expected that Windows 10 will be released as a free update for Windows 7, 8 and Windows Phone 7 users this summer.

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