Microsoft has released a new Windows 10 Creators Update Preview build 15046 to Fast Ring Insiders on PC. Unlike the last Preview build, today's release does bring a few feature changes and improvements - don't expect anything significant, though. The company is currently fine tuning Windows 10 Creators Update before it is rolled out to the public in April.
Windows 10 Creators Update 15046 brings a number of bug fixes and also offers more granular control over app installations. Earlier reports from Insiders had revealed that Microsoft has started offering Windows users to only install Windows Store apps on their systems. Microsoft has now posted the details in today's announcement.
"You now have the option to control what type of apps are allowed to install on your PC," the blog post reads. "This setting is available by going to Settings > Apps > Apps & features. You can choose to only allow installation of Store apps, choose to be warned when installing a non-Store app but allow their installation, or choose to allow installation of apps from anywhere."
Once you decide to only install apps from the Store, you will see a warning when attempting to install a non-Store app. "The warning will direct you to the Store where you can download an alternate app if available," Microsoft said while confirming that the feature indeed went live with last week's test build. While there is no guarantee how long will this remain an opt-in feature or if Microsoft will follow macOS strategy, right now the default setting allows installation of apps from anywhere.
What else is new in Windows 10 Creators PC Preview build 15046
Apart from the application installation control, here is what else is new or improved:
Color of Cortana’s home on the taskbar: You had a LOT of opinions on this topic and we have been loving the enthusiastic feedback coming in! We finished our experiment with the color of Cortana’s home on the taskbar and for now, it’s back to the color it was before.
Windows Defender Improvements: Windows Defender Security Center has added a notification icon to the notification area so you can see your protection status at a glance. You can also easily launch the app from the notification icon. Windows Defender Antivirus notifications also now lead to Windows Defender Security Center when clicked. Also: Windows Defender Security Center can now be launched directly from the Settings app and the “App and Browser” page is now functional.
Pick up where you left off in Cortana: We are experimenting with how we display what you can pick up where you left off across your devices in Cortana. Cortana now proactively shows you apps, files and websites from Microsoft Edge. Previously, this feature only displayed websites from Microsoft Edge in Action Center. Let us know what you think! (Available EN-US only.)
Improved translations: For Insiders who speak non-English languages, we wanted to let you know that we have heard your feedback on our translations and have been actively making improvements. With this build you should see improvements – particularly in OOBE and for some of our newer settings, but across the system as well.
Updated Gaming Settings icon: A lot of you sent in feedback on this. We listened and adjusted the Gaming icon in Settings to feel more inline with the other icons on the Settings home page.
For bug fixes and known issues, please visit the announcement post.
