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Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview with Narrator and some hidden improvements


Microsoft today released a new Windows 10 preview with Narrator improvements. The update bumps Windows 10 from build 18908 (made available to testers on May 29) to build 18912. These builds are from the 20H1 branch, which represents the Windows 10 update that will arrive in the first half of next year.

Windows 10 is being developed as a service, meaning it receives new features on a regular basis. Microsoft has released seven major updates so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, Fall Creators Update, April 2018 Update, October 2018 Update, and May 2019 Update.

The Narrator app can now tell you the title of the linked page — just press Caps + Ctrl + D. Narrator will take the URL of the hyperlink you are on and send it to an online service that will provide it with the page title. In Settings, you can disable all online service usage by Narrator.

There are also at least two additions in this build that Microsoft has not explicitly shared. Twitter user @thebookisclosed spotted them:

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They’ll likely be fleshed out in a later build.

Bug fixes and known issues

This 20H1 build includes the following bug fixes and improvements:

  • Fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing unexpected green screens in the last flight which cited an error with win32k.sys.
  • Fixed a high hitting DWM crash from the last two flights that was resulting in the screen frequently going black (and then everything showing again).
  • Fixed an issue resulting in Focus Assist unexpectedly enabling via the full screen automatic rule for some users after minimizing all apps.
  • Fixed an issue where, if you used remote desktop to connect to an enhanced session VM, the taskbar search results were not visible (just a dark area).
  • Fixed an issue where certain emoji weren’t being read out by Text to Speech (TTS).
  • Fixed an issue where, when selecting a color filter in the Ease of Access settings, it may not have taken effect right away unless the color filters option was turned off and back on again.
  • Fixed an issue where users navigating to the Graphics Settings page in the Settings application may have experienced Settings application crashes.
  • Fixed an issue where double-clicking the update icon in the taskbar would result in Settings launching, then immediately crashing.
  • Fixed an issue that impacted emoji panel and clipboard history reliability in the last few flights.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the IME candidate window for East Asian IMEs (Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and the Japanese IME) to not appear sometimes.
  • Fixed an issue where Chinese Pinyin and Wubi IME text candidates couldn’t be selected by number keys in the Numpad.
  • Fixed an issue where the size of tooltips for the Chinese Pinyin IME candidate window were an inconsistent font size.

This build has nine known issues:

  • For Home editions, some devices might not see the “update installed” on the update history page.
  • For Home editions, some devices might not be able to see the “download progress %” change on the Windows Update page.
  • There has been an issue with older versions of anti-cheat software used with games where after updating to the latest 19H1 Insider Preview builds may cause PCs to experience crashes. Make sure you are running the latest version of your games before attempting to update the operating system.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly.
  • There’s a noticeable lag when dragging the emoji and dictation panels.
  • Tamper Protection may be turned off in Windows Security after updating to this build. You can turn it back on.
  • When using the Bopomofo IME, the character width is suddenly changed to Full width from Half width.
  • Some users have experienced an error code while downloading this build due to high RAM consumption. It will slowly work through the download process, but that will take much longer than usual.
  • If you install builds from the Fast ring and switch to either the Slow ring or the Release Preview ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

As always, don’t install this on your production machine.

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