14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft today introduced the new Windows 10 Mobile preview build 10080, rolling out a long list of improvements and new apps for the platform that’s projected to debut in the fall of 2015.
Build 10080 comes with a refined Start screen and you can now use four live tiles on the same row, which means that many more tiles can be displayed on just one screen. As you can see in the screenshots after the jump, we managed to pin no less than 27 live tiles on the Start screen and one folder, and we could even add a few more if we were to use smaller sizes.
There are options to choose between a tiled and a full wallpaper mode, and you can also adjust transparency, which is quite a neat feature for those who put the look OS on the first place.
New apps and Spartan browser
The phone settings screen is more refined in this build, and most of the things seem to be there, although every time we tapped “Messaging,” the phone went back to the Start screen. This is just a bug and Microsoft will probably correct it in a future update.
Windows 10 build 10080 also comes with a new store that brings the mobile OS closer to its PC sibling, boasting a similar UI and providing access to apps, games, videos, music, and TV shows. The same store provides access to a preview version of the new Office productivity suite that borrows features from the desktop version, as well as a familiar UI and a hamburger menu.
Microsoft Edge is not yet available in this build, but Spartan is, and the browser actually seems to be pretty fast. Spartan is right now one of the fastest apps in this build, which is living proof that Microsoft has put a lot of work in this browser. Spartan is the codename of Microsoft Edge, but it seems like Microsoft hasn't made the renaming just yet.
There are several bugs in this build, and at the first glance it’s pretty clear that it cannot be used on a daily basis, so you should trust Microsoft when it says that preview builds are not supposed to be installed on your main devices.
Overall, Windows 10 Mobile build 10080 feels a bit slow, but it seems that it all depends on the phone you installed it to. Bugs do exist, but that’s something to be expected, so if you do want to give it a try, prepare to come across several issues.
