Windows 10 Build 9879 Now Available for All Users

After a short delay announced last week, today Microsoft has shipped the new Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9879 to users who are enrolled in the slow update channel as well, thus making sure that everyone who registered for the Windows Insider Program has access to the latest testing tidbits.

Gabe Aul, the Microsoftie who keeps us fully up to date with what's happening with Windows 10, has revealed in a short tweet that Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9879 can be downloaded automatically via the built-in updating system no matter the channel you are subscribed to.

As was the case with the update delivered to fast ring users, download and installation are performed automatically, so no user input is required.

You won't lose any files or settings, as everything on your computer remains untouched thanks to a new update system that has been specifically developed for Windows 10. Installation does take a while, however, and in some of the cases it took up to 30 minutes on our testing machines.

The last update of the year

People close to the matter said in September that Microsoft planned to update Windows 10 Technical Preview at least once a month, while others indicated that two different updates for this particular release would also be possible.

It turns out that these rumors weren't exactly true, as Microsoft has until now shipped one update per month, and what's more, no other improvements will be introduced until early 2015.

Microsoft announced last week, when it rolled out the new build 9879, that no other updates would be shipped to users, no matter the channel they're subscribed to, until the first months of 2015, when more new features and enhancements are expected.

In build 9879, Microsoft has finally introduced options to disable the Task view and the search buttons on the taskbar, so users who do not like these features finally have a way to get rid of them.

Internet Explorer also has its very own feedback system, while the notification center has been moved near the taskbar clock for easier access.

Last but not least, Microsoft also implemented some new icons, including those for folders and specific formats, so an overall more modern look can now be spotted when updating to the latest build. More such changes could be made in the upcoming updates, together with a kernel version update to 10.0, as the company itself confirmed in recent MSDN documents.