Microsoft teases latest Windows 10 build despite looming end

Rearranging the deckchairs as support iceberg approaches

Microsoft has released a Windows Insider build of Windows 10 despite the impending end of support for many flavors of the operating system.

Build 19045.5070 has been pushed to the Beta and Release Preview Channels for Windows 10 22H2.

Despite Windows 10 nearing its death, Microsoft has added a new feature for users who opted into the Beta Channel – "a refreshed experience with new top cards that highlight key hardware specifications of your device."

Microsoft explained: "These cards are designed to keep you informed about the most important details of your device's hardware that matter to you."

For all users (on Beta and Release Preview channels), Microsoft has begun rolling out the new account manager and shunted the Lock command to the Start Menu. The changes to the Start Menu might prove controversial, with one user describing similar tweaks in Windows 11 as "doing the supermarket equivalent of reorganizing shelves for no other reason than management saying so."

Considering this is Windows 10, avoiding a metaphor about rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic is difficult.

There is also a Windows 11 change in the build or, rather, a fix for the upgrade tool. Microsoft said it has fixed "a race condition" that "causes stop error 0x3B. This might occur when you upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11."

It is doubtful that a stop error during an upgrade is keeping the majority of Windows 10 users from switching to Windows 11. The onerous hardware compatibility checks, coupled with the fact that there is little in Windows 11 to entice a Windows 10 holdout, also play a role but are absent from Microsoft's list of resolutions.

Microsoft accidentally suggested on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the Windows 11 upgrade might send Windows 10 users back to the halcyon days of Windows 1, a typo that was swiftly corrected. Windows 1.0 first appeared in 1985 and was not a roaring success. It was beset by compatibility issues, but its hardware requirements – measured in kilobytes rather than gigabytes – speak to a less bloated time.

The latest build also includes fixes for multi-function printers and some additional phone numbers for product activation. ®