Here's the new Windows 10 OS version in action

Dec 15, 2014 06:02 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 build 9901 is not yet available for download through the official Microsoft channels, but users can already find it online if they know where to look, and just by looking at the feature lineup, there's no doubt that many will find it very appealing.

This unofficial Windows 10 version indeed comes with several improvements, and the one you'll notice first is a new search box implemented right into the taskbar.

While such a search box was already available in older Windows 10 builds with a registry tweak, this time Microsoft offers a more refined version that's also the foundation of personal assistant Cortana on the desktop.

That's right, Cortana is now available on the desktop as well, so if you wish to talk to your computer just like to your friends, now's the time to do it.

At this point, Cortana is still in its very early steps on the PC, so some of its features do not work as expected, but it does perform a bunch of things such as setting up reminders and searching the web. We've also found out that Cortana can perform more actions when you input text commands, so its voice recognition system still needs more improvements.

A brand new settings panel

There were some voices in the past, which hinted that Microsoft might abandon the desktop Control Panel completely and replace it with the Metro-based PC settings. While that seemed really impossible at first, such a switch becomes more likely right now thanks to the introduction of a new settings panel.

As you can see in the photo gallery below, Windows 10 build 9901 comes with a new PC settings screen that reminds more of the desktop and allows you to access the majority of features that were previously offered only through Control Panel.

Of course, it's not yet clear whether Microsoft indeed plans to dump Control Panel or not, but it's very obvious that the company wants to bring all features available on the desktop in the Modern UI as well.

Improved desktop and refined icons

The taskbar has also received a bunch of improvements, and icons are now smaller, which kind of makes the desktop a bit more appealing and easier to use especially on smaller screens.

Since the search box takes up a quarter of the taskbar (you can disable it, however, and switch back to the search icon only), Microsoft made icons on the taskbar smaller for more space. The result is pretty eye-candy and does fit most of the screens really well.

At this point, we've also discovered a few bugs, one of which crashes the system completely when trying to connect to VPN servers. Obviously, this isn't an official release, so bugs should not be something unexpected, but keep in mind that preview builds are not developed to be installed on main PCs.

Windows 10 build 9901 (28 Images)

Windows 10 build 9901 Start menu
Windows 10 build 9901 desktopWindows 10 build 9901 Start menu options
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