Microsoft Surprises With New Windows 10 Mobile Build

Microsoft recently released an updated Windows 10 Mobile build, numbered 10586.29. Microsoft’s Gabe Aul calls the new edition of the company’s smartphone operating system a “Cumulative Update” for the preceding build, 10586.

The build was a slight surprise to your humble servant, dropping in the early evening on a Friday.

Before we dig into what’s new, Microsoft noted that its two new smartphones — the Lumia 950 and 950 XL — will be ‘onboarded’ in the next week, thus becoming eligible for the new code.

So, what is in the .29 build? Microsoft states that it has improved the performance of its new Edge browser, which will eventually supplant Internet Explorer.

Moving ahead, the new set of code will help people upgrade their phones with less hassle and contain what Microsoft calls “[i]mproved application backward compatibility for Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight applications.” I’m not sure how large the demand is for the latter update there, but I presume it was executed for a reason.

Remember Silverlight? Perhaps not.

Today’s update isn’t the largest set of new capabilities, but in the same announcement, the company included an interesting tidbit on how it intends to continue to update Windows 10 Mobile in the coming “few weeks and into next year.” Here’s Aul:

As our partners and Microsoft ship new Windows 10 mobile devices and existing devices are upgraded to Windows 10, all of our users will start to see more updates coming through Windows Update. These will be addressing feedback we receive from our Windows Insiders and new Windows 10 users.

I take that to mean as the pace of updates accelerates, the expected scale or size of each should decrease. That seems reasonable enough: If you’re going to do something more frequently, you may want to shrink your per-build scale.

So, that’s where the company is. If you’re a Windows 10 Mobile user, expect quite a lot of polishing on the way. Now, go outside and lay in the sun.