Windows 10 Build 10576 brings media casting support in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft released a new build to the Windows Insider channel today that updates Windows 10 to build 10576. The new build includes improvements for the Microsoft Edge browser mostly plus several fixes of know problems. In addition, it introduces several new issues that users need to be aware of before updating.

If you run a machine with a Fast Ring Windows 10 Insider Build, then you may have noticed already that a new update is available. If not, tap on the Windows-key, type Windows Update and click on the check for updates button to check for it manually.

The update to Windows 10 Build 10576 introduces new features to Microsoft's Edge web browser. While you don't get extension support yet, you will receive access to two new features in the browser.

The first enables you to cast media using Microsoft Edge to Miracast and DLNA enabled devices on the network.

The post announcing the update lists a couple of scenarios for users interested in the feature:

• Casting videos from YouTube.
• Casting photo albums from Facebook.
• Casting music from Pandora.

The process is identical for all scenarios. Access the site that you want to cast media from, click on the "..." menu at the top in Edge afterwards and select the new "cast media to device" option in the menu.

Microsoft notes that it limits casting to unprotected content. It is currently not possible to cast content from Netflix, Hulu and other services.

The second feature that is new in Microsoft Edge is the ability to use Cortana to look up highlighted text when reading PDF documents in the web browser.

To do so highlight text in the PDF document, right-click afterwards and select "ask Cortana" from the menu to find additional information.

As far as fixes are concerned, there are several. Microsoft fixed an issue in the Xbox application for Windows 10 that would cause it to consume Gigabytes of memory if non-Windows Store games were added to it.

Other fixes include performance improvements for the recently introduced nested virtualization support, localization UI improvements, and a working search box for locales where Cortana is not available.

Make sure to go through the list of known issues in the build before you are upgrading as several new ones are introduced in it.

Most notably, you may notice that all Skype messages and contacts are gone. The workaround for this is to open C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Messaging_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache (replace <USERNAME> with yours, and to delete the PrivateTransportId in the directory. A restart of the Messaging application should restore messages and contacts.

Another issue that may affect you is that support for WebM and VP9 has been removed in this build. Microsoft plans to re-introduce support in future builds.