First big Windows 10 Patch to be released early November

Microsoft released several new Windows Insider builds since the final release of its new Windows 10 operating system a couple of months ago.

The company released patches for Windows 10 RTM as well but those were largely security or stability related and not feature updates.

Sources close to Microsoft indicate that this will change in early November when Microsoft plans to release the Windows 10 Fall Update to the release version of the operating system.

The new update, previously known as Threshold R2 introduces improvements to existing features as well as new features to the operating system.

The update has no prerequisites and can be installed on any Windows 10 RTM version right away as it is cumulative in nature. In addition, it is installed via Windows Update under the name "Windows 10 November 2015".

Since it is delivered via Windows Update, it is installed right away unlike Windows Insider builds which are more like full installations of Windows.

Important changes in the Windows 10 November 2015 update

1. Start tiles support jumplists.
2. Desktop tiles can have their own color and you may show three or four medium tiles per group now.
3. Additional Cortana features: inked notes, track movies and ticketed events, missed phone calls, energy saving, syncing of messaging and calling history.
4. Microsoft Edge upgrades: improved HTML5 and CSS3 support, and ECMAScript 6 and 7 support, tab previews, Favorites and Reading List synchronization, F12 tools can be docked to the window, search engine setting in its own pane.
5. Locate your device with GPS and Location tracking.
6. Disallow apps to: access call history, access and send emails.
7. New Default apps: Skype Video, Messaging, Phone, Sway.
8. All built-in applications are updated to more recent versions.
9. Improved memory management
10. Reworked Environmental Variables window.
11. Windows 10 can be activated with a Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 key during or after installation.

Important fixes

1. Apps can be installed to other drives.
2. Option to define where offline maps are stored.
3. The color set under Personalization now affects titlebars as well.
4. Improved -- more consistent -- look of context menus and drop downs.
5. Improved dark and light theming.
6. Cortana support for local accounts.
7. Start supports up to 2048 tiles after the update instead of just 512 (which caused display issues').
8. Two windows snapped side by side can now be resized (horizontally)
9. The Control Panel's Theme Settings have been reverted back to the Windows 8.1 state giving you more options.

Closing Words

If you are running a Windows 10 Insider build you are benefiting from most of these changes already. Some add features and improvements to Windows that Microsoft did not have time for before release, while others improve how you work with the operating system.

It is a marginal update more than a massive feature update but still something that most users will welcome with open arms.

One feature that won't be part of the Fall update is extension support in Microsoft Edge. This won't come before 2016 which means that we still don't know how well it will work out after all.

Now You: What's your take on the feature additions? Anything you are excited about?