Finally, new Windows 10 build released for most but not all Slow Ring testers
Updated 2/27: For most Slow Ring Windows Insiders, the long wait for a new test build ended today with the release of Microsoft's Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18342.8 (19H1).
But for some Slow Ring testers, the wait continues: Due to a GSOD glitch that's causing many Chinese games to crash on launch, PCs with base language ZH-CN will not receive this update. Microsoft is also blocking upgrades for users of the most common games affected by the GSOD. Once users uninstall the affected games, they can get the update.
If you're a Windows fan in Microsoft's Slow Ring of the Windows 10 preview, don't hold your breath for a new build any time soon.
Windows 10
Microsoft has hit pause on that part of its Windows 10 Insider preview program due to a green screen of death (GSOD) glitch that it can't fix on its own.
The Slow Ring is the more stable preview of Windows 10 for users who don't want to live with all the bugs expected in Fast Ring previews.
The problem for Microsoft's risk-averse Windows 10 testers is that just a month from general availability of Windows 10 version 1903, Microsoft hasn't delivered a single preview build from the 19H1 branch.
The 19H1 drought looked set to end soon after Microsoft earlier this month flagged a 19H1 build was coming to the Slow Ring. But now that looks unlikely to happen for a few weeks more due to a GSOD bug, according to Windows Insider boss Dona Sarkar.
Frustratingly for Slow Ring participants, the bug that's causing the holdup can only be fixed by third-party vendors, so Microsoft has no control over when it will be addressed.
"Many of you are asking why we haven't released a #SlowRing flight in a while," Sarkar said in a tweet this week.
"We have a GSOD that's caused by a very common scenario around gaming anti-cheat codes. Unfortunately the fix is in the hands of our third-party partner company that we're working with them on."
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Sarker doesn't mention which games are linked to the GSOD glitches but notes that many insiders on the Slow Ring do play the affected games and that because of the bug "your machines would be very difficult to use".
"We are committed to releasing Slow builds that are high quality so this is why we're holding the build," she explained.
As Neowin's Rich Wood noted earlier this month, the Slow Ring has become a bit of a joke, not having received a single 19H1 build to date. That is unusual, especially given that 19H1 or Windows 10 version 1903 is slated for release around March or April. Microsoft's first 19H1 builds arrived in October and November.
Sarker's fellow Insider manager Brandon LeBlanc in mid-February said Microsoft did have a 19H1 candidate in mind for release to the Slow Ring, which would follow a build it intended to push to the Fast Ring first.
Windows 10 users on the Fast Ring did get a new build yesterday in the form of build 18346 from the 19H1 branch.
Known issues include "launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD)".
(1/2)Many of you are asking why we haven't released a #SlowRing flight in a while. We have a GSOD that's caused by a very common scenario around gaming anti-cheat codes. Unfortunately the fix is in the hands of our 3rd party partner company that we're working with them on...
— Dona Sarkar (@donasarkar) February 25, 2019
(2/2) Looking at our #SlowRing population, MANY of you play these games so your machines would be very difficult to use--we are committed to releasing Slow builds that are high quality so this is why we're holding the build
— Dona Sarkar (@donasarkar) February 25, 2019
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