Microsoft has just released a second 19H2 preview build for Windows Insiders in the Slow Ring today. The 19H2 build 18362.10005 follows the build 18362.1 released on July 1, and Microsoft says that it includes all the fixes from this month’s Patch Tuesday for the May 2019 Update, plus a couple of changes and improvements that will be turned off by default.
“As mentioned previously, we may ship features in these updates turned off by default and turn them on via controlled feature rollouts. Doing this helps us gain better feedback on overall build quality. With today’s 19H2 build, we are testing this experience. Our plan is to quickly follow-up with another 19H2 build that turns these features on for a subset of Insiders and proceed from there based on feedback and quality,” the Windows Insider team explained today.
Here are the four changes mentioned in the release notes, but are turned off by default in the build 18362.1005. The most interesting thing is that Microsoft will soon allow other digital assistants other than Cortana to be voice activated right from the Windows 10 lock screen
- Windows containers require matched host and container version. This restricts customers and limits Windows containers from supporting mixed-version container pod scenarios This update includes 5 fixes to address this and allow the host to run down-level containers on up-level for process (Argon) isolation.
- A fix to allow OEMs to reduce the inking latency based on the hardware capabilities of their devices rather than being stuck with latency selected on typical hardware configuration by the OS.
- Key-rolling or Key-rotation feature enables secure rolling of Recovery passwords on MDM managed AAD devices upon on demand request from in-tune/MDM tools or upon every time recovery password is used to unlock the BitLocker protected drive. This feature will help prevent accidental recovery password disclosure as part of manual BitLocker drive unlock by users.
- A change to enable third-party digital assistants to voice activate above the Lock screen.
If 19H2 will be a minor update that will install like a regular “Patch Tuesday” update, it seems that this release may still be interesting for consumers. The May 2019 Update decoupled Cortana from Windows Search, and it appears that Cortana will soon become an app that is updated through the Microsoft Store. With Microsoft planning to make third-party digital assistants available from the Lock Screen, it looks like Amazon’s Alexa app could soon feel even more at home on Windows 10 PCs.
If you’re a Slow Ring Insider, be aware that this new 19H2 build will install like a Cumulative Update and not a full build update. Microsoft said that next 19H2 build will enable some of the changes announced today for select Insiders, and we hope to get more details soon.
Further reading: 19H2, Alexa, build 18362.10005, Cortana, slow ring, Windows 10, Windows Insider
