Microsoft’s First Windows 10 Redstone 2 Insider Preview Hits Fast Ring

There was a ton of hype of anticipation leading up to the Anniversary Update for Windows 10, otherwise known as Redstone 1 and the OS's second major update since it launched in July of last year. Now it's time to look ahead to Redstone 2, one of two major updates Microsoft has planned for next year. If you want to get an early look at what's in store, the first Redstone 2 preview build (14901) is available to Windows Insiders subscribers who are signed up to the Fast ring.

At this early stage in Redstone 2's development, Microsoft says you won't see many big changes or new features. The focus for right now is backend housekeeping, such as "some structural improvements to OneCore, which is the shared 'heart' of Windows across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, Hololens, and Xbox," and a bit of "code refactoring and other engineering work" to make sure OneCore is ready to receive new features.

"As a result, these builds may include more bugs and other issues that could be slightly more painful for some people to live with. If this makes you uncomfortable, you can change your ring by going to Settings > Update & security > Windows Insider Program and moving to the Slow or Release Preview rings for more stable builds," Microsoft said.


That said, there is one new feature you'll find in the Preview build—new notifications within File Explorer. Microsoft says they're designed to help customers by providing quick and easy information and about things they can do or new features they can try out in Windows 10. If you find them annoying, you can opt out of receiving them by unchecking "Show sync provider notifications" from the Options menu in the File Explorer View tab.

Microsoft also lists a couple of known issues with its latest Preview build. One is that support for kernel debugging has been removed, though it will be available in an upcoming kit release. And secondly, Adobe Acrobat Reader crashes during launch attempts.