Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14352: Cortana gets Groovy with a countdown clock
While we wait for the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary update, yet another brand new Insider Preview Build, 14352, hits fast ring insiders, with a bunch of improvements and features, some of which may just make it into the final big update, scheduled this Summer.
Just like in the previous build, Build 14352 contains many Cortana enhancements, including the ability to play songs from local hard drives, OneDrive, and Groove Music playlists. Groove Music Pass subscribers will also have the ability to play any song online, available with their subscription, by asking Cortana for specific titles, or the name of a particular playlist.
Some of the new commands Cortana is now able to recognize include (Hey Cortana...):
- “...play <song name>.”
- “...play <artist>.”
- “...play <groove playlist>.”
- “...pause.”
Along the lines of Google’s internal apps, Cortana’s ability to perform tasks on its own, is growing, with a new Timer feature. By telling Cortana to “Set a timer for <seconds/minutes>”, Cortana will automatically start a countdown clock, which can be checked upon, by saying “...how much time is left?”, or canceled by saying “...cancel my timer”.
Windows Ink
Aside from Cortana, Windows Ink has received its fair share of updates, including a more polished Sketchpad interface, and a compass built into the Windows Ink ruler.
Double anti-virus protection
A new feature called “Limited Period Scanning” has been introduced in this build and allows to use both Windows Defender, and a third-party anti-virus software, simultaneously. For those users who already use Windows Defender as their primary line of defense against viruses, this option is on by default, otherwise it can be enabled in Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender, and switch on “Limited Periodic Scanning”.
Issues
While the issues reported with this build focus mainly on user experience, such as the inability to use the keyboard in apps like Netflix, one problem we have encountered on our system was a temporary unavailability of Realtek audio drivers governing 5.1 Surround sound, which can be solved by uninstalling, and reinstalling the drivers. It seems that in this build the Realtek HD Audio Manager is missing, at least for now.