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Windows 10 Slow Ring update strides confidently into 2020
Edge Goes Surfing? How about Horace Goes Skiing?
Having given admins the nod that the pre-release Windows 10 2004 was good to go for the Windows Server Update Service, Microsoft did what Microsoft does and changed it.
While Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring continue to twiddle their thumbs as the Windows gang wrestles with a mystery bug, an update to Windows 10 due to hit in the April timeframe was emitted.
The update, build 19041.113, came as Microsoft also pushed out an optional cumulative update for Windows 10 1903 and 1909. The latter, a hulking patchfest, was chock full of fixes including one to deal with an issue that stopped ActiveX content loading.
Sounds like more of a feature than an issue to us.
That first cumulative update (KB4540409) for Windows 10 20H1/2004 had a few extra goodies for Slow Ring fans, which we hope Windows Insider senior program manager Brandon LeBlanc didn't list in order of importance, since number two was changing the copyright date for Windows 10 version 2004 to 2020.
Because, hey, getting that date right is important – one wouldn't want Windows 10 falling into the public domain a year or so too early. Think of the great-grandkids.
Further down the list of fixes are less cosmetic and more useful tweaks. A nasty that stopped systems responding on sign-in has been dealt with, as has another that could leave things unresponsive when a user tries to sign out.
The huddle of people using a Surface Pro X will also be pleased to note that a bug stopping connectivity for "certain" cellular carriers has also been dealt with.
An indication of just how close to release the code is comes from the known issues list, which consists of just the one entry (not insignificant if you're visually impaired, though): Chromium Edge and the Narrator accessibility feature don't play too well together at the moment ("legacy" Edge is unaffected).
Released in January, Chromium Edge will feature largely in future versions of Windows 10 as Microsoft quietly deprecates its previous attempt to win the hearts, minds and internet connection of users. To that end, the gang also fixed an issue that stopped the new Edge icon being pinned to the taskbar after installation and the creation of a new profile.
Handy, because a few days earlier the Edge team released the Surf game its engineers had built into the new browser.
The edge://surf game is now available as the offline game in Microsoft Edge! We've made a ton of improvements based on your feedback. Here's what's new in Canary/Dev:
— William Devereux (@MasterDevwi) February 26, 2020
🏄♂ 3 new modes!
🎮 Play with keyboard, mouse, touch, or gamepad
🏆 High scores
🌊 Improved UX
🎁 And much more! pic.twitter.com/UyLHED2loR
It's a fun little thing (if you're running the Canary or Dev version of Chromium Edge) but we'd contend that while colourful graphics are all well and good, popping back nearly 40 years to Horace Goes Skiing puts a delightfully retro-twist on the vertically scrolling fun with a thinly disguised Frogger clone thrown in for good measure.
That's lunch sorted then. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
