Windows 10's 'Fast' updates will soon move even faster and break more things

13.03.2015
Microsoft says it's speeding the pace of Windows 10 preview builds for those on the "Fast" track, so anyone afraid of bugs may want to slow things down.

The Windows 10 Technical Preview offers a choice of "Fast" or "Slow" update tracks, or "rings" as Microsoft calls them. While all users start out in the Slow ring, switching to Fast means getting new features earlier, with the risk of more problems. Users can switch between these rings by going to Settings > Update and recovery > Preview builds.

Gabriel Aul, an engineering general manager at Microsoft, wrote on Twitter that the company will be advising users to move to Slow updates if they want a lower risk of problems. "Still considering new rings, but for now we've decided to try to increase pace of Fast, and that means letting people know first," Aul wrote.

The next Windows 10 preview build is highly-anticipated among enthusiasts, as it will likely contain the first public release of Microsoft's new "Project Spartan" web browser. Spartan is a completely separate browser from Internet Explorer, with a new rendering engine, a streamlined interface, built-in annotation features, and a little help from Cortana.

In the meantime, you can enable Spartan's rendering engine in Internet Explorer, and check out some other Windows 10 tips and tricks while you're at it.

Why this matters: At this point, it's been nearly two months since Microsoft released the last preview build for Windows 10. Clearly the company has run into some bugs that it isn't comfortable releasing into the wild--at least not without ample warning for users. While some users may be willing to take the risk, now's a good time to get on the Slow track if you're relying on Windows 10 for work

(www.pcworld.com)

Jared Newman