Microsoft releases new Windows 10 preview with Your Phone texting

Three builds in three days! Microsoft today released a new preview for PCs with Your Phone texting and 3 bug fixes. This build is from the RS5 branch, which represents the Windows 10 update the company plans to release in October. The company is also releasing builds from the 19H1 branch, which, as its name indicates, 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 five major updates so far: November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, Fall Creators Update, and April 2018 Update.

The next update, dubbed the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, will bring Windows 10 to version 1809. The update is expected to be finalized for Windows Insiders in September and roll out to the public in October.

The Your Phone app lets you access your phone’s content — like text messages, photos, and notifications — right on your Windows 10 PC. Your Phone has now received SMS support: Text your friends, group message, and type with a keyboard. As long as you have an Android phone, Your Phone lets you view, send, and receive texts on your PC. On pen-capable devices, you can even use ink to write out a reply, and if you have a microphone, you can use your voice to dictate a message (US English only for now).

iPhone users meanwhile can send webpages to their PC and continue what they were doing. Using Edge and Your Phone, you can continue reading, watching, or browsing on a bigger screen.

This desktop build includes the following general bug fixes and improvements:

• The build watermark at the lower right-hand corner of the desktop is no longer present in this build. This does not mean this is the final build.
• Fixed an issue resulting in slower resume from hibernation on certain devices in the last few flights.
• Fixed an issue resulting in HDR video being unexpectedly clipped in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue resulting in Windows Hello spending more time in the “Getting Ready” state in recent builds.

Today’s update bumps the Windows 10 build number for the RS5 branch from 17754 (made available to testers on September 5) to build 17755.

This build has two known issues:

• When you use the Ease of Access Make Text bigger setting, you might see text clipping issues, or find that text is not increasing in size everywhere.
• Narrator sometimes does not read in the Settings app when you navigate using Tab and arrow keys. Try switching to Narrator Scan mode temporarily. And when you turn Scan mode off again, Narrator will now read when you navigate using Tab and arrows key. Alternatively, you can restart Narrator to work around this issue.

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