Windows 10 build 14361 for PC: Everything you need to know

By Mauro Huculak
published

As we get closer to the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft keeps pushing new previews to Insiders. On June 8th, the company began rolling out Windows 10 build 14361 for PC and Mobile through the Fast ring with a few improvements and changes, and a long list of fixes.

In Windows 10 build 14361, we're now seeing that the operating system is getting more polished with tweaks around the Start menu, Action Center, and Cortana. In addition, Windows Ink gets a lot of changes to improve the user experience. The Settings app receives some welcome tweaks, and LastPass is finally available for Microsoft Edge.

Here's everything you need to know on the latest preview of Windows 10 for PC.

Windows 10 build 14361

Start menu & Action Center

In the latest test version of Windows 10, the Start menu layout remains the same, but Microsoft is polishing the appearance by making smaller the dead space at the top of the menu. Also, the scrollbar you'll see when hovering the "All apps" and "Live Tiles" sections now quickly disappears as you move the mouse away from the area.

On Action Center, icons for notifications are smaller to improve the use of space to show more notifications.

You'll also notice that the Quick Action button to open the Network flyout ditches the old globe icon for a new icon that combines the wireless and ethernet connection symbols that better represents the action of the button.

Starting with this preview, you can now open the Clock and Calendar flyout using the Windows key + Alt D keyboard shortcut.

Cortana

This time around Microsoft's digital assistant has an updated homepage. When you click the search box in the taskbar, Cortana will open and offer some tips you can use with the assistant, and you'll notice several buttons that you can use to refine your searches quickly.

However, it appears that Microsoft is A/B testing the new improvements as you may get different versions of the new homepage at different times.

Microsoft also says that Cortana should be more reliable listening when you click the microphone button in the taskbar.

Windows Ink

With the Anniversary Update, Microsoft is also introducing the new Windows Ink experience that allows users with touch-enabled devices to quickly write notes, sketch, and annotate screenshots with the pen, and in the latest build, the experience is getting some welcome improvements.

For example, the ruler available in the Screen sketch and Sketchpad is now long enough to cover diagonally the entire display.

Additionally, on Sketchpad, there is a new "Clear all" option that is more discoverable represented by a trash can icon next to the save button.

You'll also notice an updated Touch Ink icon in the Windows Ink Workspace to match the design of the Windows ink Workspace icon.

The Windows Ink Workspace now load the Sketchpad thumbnail faster, and Microsoft has fixed a couple of issues drawing with the ruler and visible flickering in the colored section when opening the Pen, Pencil or Highlighter flyout.

Sticky Notes is also showing various improvements. On the latest build of Windows 10, the menu for notes has been updated to make it faster to change the color of your notes instead of having move between menus to make a color change. And you'll also notice that the Sticky Notes canvas no longer shows a blur letting you clearly see the desktop.

After closing the Sticky Notes canvas, your notes will remain open on the desktop. However, we could be looking at a bug and not a new feature. If you want to close all your notes, you need to right-click the app in the Taskbar and click Close window.

Another minor change includes a warning when trying to delete a note, as you can see in the screenshot below.

Settings app

On Windows 10 build 14361, the Settings app is getting some changes to improve the user experience.

As you open the Settings app on this build, you will quickly notice that the gray background has changed in favor of a white color background.

The navigation pane is now also white when using the light mode and completely black when using the dark mode. To make it clear in which Settings page you're on, Windows 10 now highlights the title of the page and adds a small block that inherits the color from your current theme.

In addition, the entire Home button is now clickable, and it's been relocated above the search box.

Settings app in light mode

Settings app in dark mode

System

On Settings > System > About, the version number of Windows 10 is 1607, further confirming that the operating system is in its final stage of development and getting ready for the July release. Up until build 14352, the version number was shown as 1511, which is the current version number for Windows 10.

Network & security

On Settings > Network & security > Status, some of the links to manage networking settings in Control Panel has been updated to show as buttons, instead of simple links.

Update & security

On Settings > Update & security > Windows Update, the settings to configure Active Hours has increased from 10 to 12 hours.

On Settings > Update & security > Windows Defender, you won't see any visual changes, but Microsoft is making some changes to reduce the number of notifications from the antivirus. Starting with build 14361, Windows Defender won't show recap notifications if no scan has run, or if after a scan action is not required.

On Settings > Update & security > Activation, the settings page has been updated with a description to make easier for users to update their product key.

Microsoft Edge

Windows 10 build 14361 also includes an updated version of Microsoft Edge. In the new update, the version jumps from 38.14352 to version 38.14361, and there are only a few improvements.

Perhaps the most important piece of information for this version of Edge is that users can finally try the new LastPass extension. If you're unfamiliar, LastPass is a free password manager service that works across devices, and now you can also bring your passwords to Microsoft Edge.

In the new version, the download notification has also been updated to include the filename, download status, and domain link on separate lines to improve the experience.

On the About:Flags, you'll now find that the "Enable TCP Fast Open" option is disabled by default, and there is a new "Enable Standard Fullscreen API" option.

In addition, Microsoft has fixed a few issues that caused a gray bar to appear on the left side of the browser, tab icons to disappear following some Remote Desktop connections, and on Mobile, there is a fix for a problem using the "Find in page" feature.

Virtualization

In this release, Windows 10 is also introducing Hyper-V Container support, in addition to a new version of Docker that you can use to create and run containers using the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 Nano Server OS image (opens in new tab). For more details on this new feature, you can read the Microsoft support page for container (opens in new tab).

Wrapping things up

While there aren't significant visual changes in the latest update, overall the new build of Windows 10 seems more stable, and it's finally starting to look more complete now that we're getting closer to the final release.

We're still likely to see a few more previews until the Anniversary Update rolls out, but similar to current test version, we probably won't see big changes, only fixes, and improvements to get Windows 10 ready for the masses.

Finally, alongside the new changes and enhancements, Microsoft has published a list with details on all the new fixes and known issues for the latest preview of Windows 10.

What do you think about the new changes? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

More Windows 10 resources

For more coverage, help articles, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources:

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

94 Comments
  • waiting hungrily for anniversary update.!!
  • You don't have long to wait. Windows Central Universal Application for Windows 10
  • Yes! As far as mobile is concerned,, this time around I want MS to have a confident release of W10M..
    It needs to be a showcase of a mobile OS.. Ready, tight, front and center!!!
    ........
    How many think it's possible with an August release? Or, should I be expecting these things with W10RS2M?
  • We already know everything the Anniversary Update will have. Just read the articles that describe what is new in every build.
  • And I did not see anything exciting in this build as they promised.... Makay Chapulets | MTN Nigeria CCR
    Posted from my Lumia 640XL running Windows 10.
  • They didn't promise any such thing, read the words properly. Dona said "No new builds today tho we're hustling some *really* interesting things for you late this week and next week". For a start there was no promise. She said hustling, means they are trying, I.e. Not promising!
    Second, she didn't say it was going to be a build, she said "things", which could mean anything, doesn't specifically say build.
    Third, it says late this week and next week, there is still time...
    Amazes me the amount of slack MS catch for people complaining about things that were never actually said..
  • This build destroys my Radeon 7970m. It won't work now, I had to use the Ivy Bridge HD4000 gpu lol
  • LOL then upgrade your GPU, dude :D Posted via the Windows Central App for Andr... err... what?
  • It's a laptop ...
  • Oops, didn't see the 'm' on that GPU model... my bad :( Posted via the Windows Central App for Andr... err... what?
  • What do you mean "destroys"??
  • Dramatic way to say corrupted the driver, and wont work with the latest driver from AMD. At least for my card that is.
  • when is the anniversary update due?
  • I believe it's slated for July but I could be wrong.
  • The projected launch is July 29th, or the same day Threshold 1 was released almost a year ago (the first public release of Windows 10). However, this could be pushed back for whatever reason, so it's not set in stone by any means. Windows Central Universal Application for Windows 10
  • Duh!! its called Aniversary update for a reason.
  • Based on the 1607 codename, I'd say around July 16th
  • That's makes sense...
  • It means July 2016. Från min Lumia 1520
  • No, July 2016.
  • Today
  • LastPass extension install failed on my SurfaceBook. "This app encountered a problem. Please reinstall it to repair" When clicking reinstall, the download completes but the message re-appears. Reboots don't fix it.
  • Huh, weird. Running it on my Surface Book no issue.
  • Hi Daniel, I do not see Update on my Surface Pro 4. Any Solution?    
  • Perhaps, refresh your PC can fix this problem? Posted via the Windows Central App for Andr... err... what?
  • I've noticed that my notifications from action center don't get stuck anymore. Also Edge is much more responsive
  • I thought the last one was called 1511 as it was released on 15th November. Surely if this follows this one is pegged for release on 16th July?
  • More like November 2015 and July 2016. Year and month, not month and day.
  • 1607? So the release date is now officially in July. Nice :D
  • That's the plan. Let's hope nothing delays that release date.
  • I was wondering why sticky notes couldn't be kept in the desktop like older windows versions, for me that's what they're for, if I have to open the app to see them, they are useless as reminders.
  • I would love to see a write up on what each of the about:flags settings do.
  • That's a good idea, I agree.
  • wll if they bring extensions on mobile it will be awesome and atract attention
  • They could. They might. Memory and CPU allocation on Mobile is vastly different than a PC, so they will have a lot of optimizing and testing to do first. Ironically, blocking ads, for instance, can be a very memory and CPU intensive task, believe it or not.
  • But it also saves a lot of memory and cpu after they have been blocked xD. But why are memory and cpu allocation so different, i personally find this annoying as it kind of lowers the "universal" part a lot if you have to expect different memory and CPU behaviour on different form factors. I'd prefer they throttled desktops more and added a flag to "allow full HW access" or something (which you could also use on mobile)
  • The new Settings app starts to look bloated. Black text on one white background, that's not easy on the eye. Also the Home button never made sense, now it's even more confusing because it looks like a headline and in 99% the back button does already move you back to home. They constantly change things randomly instead of improving.
  • Also the settings app still looks ugly and unfinished. 
  • Hoping for a similar write up on mobile. The last 2 builds have been much more stable on my 950. Almost as though it is a real OS. ;) Keep up the work, Microsoft.
  • in 1995 i have comment why accent color in start menu left ????? could remove it only icon like desktop
  • Edge performance actually seems much better in this update and the bug I had where favourites don't show is fixed, so I'm a happy man
  • Tsunami.... Hehe nice name for your router. :D
  • I was looking forward to Zac doing a video on this topic.
    Hey there guys, Zac here from Windows Central, and welcome to another video...
    Maybe for the mobile build? 
  • Edge performance and stability actually plummeted on my SP3. Only happens with video/Flash ads but still makes it quite a pain to use now. Love LastPass extension though the UI language doesn't update when I select English instead of Dutch. Also AdblockPlus stopped working (simply does not appear) so maybe my Surface just need a clean install.
  • On my Surface 4, constantly stops responding and crashes. Way worse this build.
  • Experiencing the same issues.  Lastpass was the only thing keeping me from trying out Edge as my daily, but after installing, Edge is slow in switching tabs, opening tabs and randomly crashes.  The only thing different is the new build and installing Lastpass and AdBlock.
  • I don't understand why sticky notes are back, it's so Windows 7. I know there's Ink and Cortana built into them, but I believe there should be a more modern way (ie, less "imitating real life") to do something similar.
  • Like just being able to randomly write on any part of the OS, but I'd settle for just the desktop.
  • Though a more modern approach would be nice (maybe using onenote) the sticky notes feature has been useful for the company I work at for years. Saves us from buying them as well.
  • A tremendous amount of spit & polish is required. Stability remains a serious concern. Touch is slow and unresponsive too say the least. One step forward two steps back.
  • When are they going to get rid of the old Control Panel completely?
  • It's a slow process, they'll get there at some point. ​It's a bit weird because they're not removing the leftovers, but instead they're making them more acessible (the change in aditional settings, where previous links are now buttons).  
  • Hopefully never. That's a good place for power user settings. The modern settings menu will be a confusing mess if they try to fit everything in it. -- Lumia 640 (Windows 10)
  • I'm getting the new Cortana homepage, the one on the left, on my work PC running 10586.318.  Not a fan, but at least I know what it is now.  Couldn't figure out why it was different when it started a couple days ago.
  • After this update, my start menu is laggy. When I click on it it comes out after 4-5 seconds. Any suggestions?
  • Cortana interface is nice.  Very helpful for new users.  Surface 4 is so much more stable now.  All the firmware and driver updates have helped a ton.   
  • I would love to see big windows stuff like ink, sticky notes, exe programs, customization, advance features all on windows 10 mobile
  • That might not happen any time soon. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android... I'm sorry
  • Got this update on my Lumia 1520 yesterday. Sent a tip to Windows Central but was neglected.
  • Yea, uh, I wouldn't expect a bouqet from Daniel Rubino if you pushed him out of the way of a car. :-p
  • I'm sure you were actively neglegted.  I imagine, actually I am failry confident, they are blasted with tons of "tips" daily. They can't and won't use all of them. Also what is tip/news worthy about you getting this on your 1520? Everyone running the Insider program and this ring, on desktop and mobile got this update.  No sense in feeling invalidated over not getting the "Thanks random person on the internet for the tip!" Back when this site focused solely on phone there was time for that. Today, WindowsCental covers a considerably more than the past, so you're not going to get a shout out often.
  • Wasn't asking for shout-out, that's immaturity. It won't make me famous nor rich. If they'd published it, people would share their experience on what's working and what's not working. The update for mobile doesn't provide information on what's been fixed.
  • I am still stuck with the installation getting stuck at 93%. Been this way for months. Has anyone found a fix for this?
  • Edge on SP4 really sux in this build. Constantly stops rresponding,crashes. At this point at least for me, mobile is ahead stability wise. 
  • Same here. It runs fast and smoothly on my 950 but sluggish on SP3
  • What's that big thing the insider gal teased the other day? I haven't seen that followed up on....
  • What happened to the Network speed test that appeared in a previous build? (It didn't work but MS said in the notes they were working to make it functional)
  • The white looks so painful.
  • Yes, and the black is just too dark. Light and dark Grey are better.
  • I like the new tweaks to the settings app very nice.
  • I agree, the more solid black/white look nicer to me.
  • Does anyone know how hovering over Settings, Power, All apps, etc. in the Start menu looks now? I really dislike how the hover/highlight has zero padding on the left...it's totally flush against the button's icon :/
  • Hi everyone! I would just like to ask whether anyone would recommend using this fast ring build over the current slow build. Which is more stable and less buggy, from an experienced Insider? Thank you. -SurfacePro4 on i5
  • Usually, either Fast or Slow tend to be good builds. Of course, the fast ring generally have more problems. I personally use the Fast because I want the latest and greatest right away. In either case, you could, but you shouldn't use a pre-release version as your primary operating system. Virtual machine or spare computer is best. Thanks,
  • Will the new version of Microsoft Edge support MD5 checksums?
  • Ms has really done a great piece of work there.
    Ms should make the "windows help" available offline like Cortana help is in Cortana, not when u are connected to internet you only see them.
  • DId I totally miss something or is there still no AD blocking for edge?
  • Yep, you've been living in a cave. Adblock & adblockplus have been available since 2 or 3 builds ago for Edge, and they work perfectly. :)
  • production run or only insider?
  • Well since extensions are only available currently for insiders... Non-insiders will have extensions available at the anniversary update due this summer :)
  • Thank you king of ocean.  Thats why I dont have it.  I do not want to run insider on my surface. 
  • It's there for a while already, that's why it is not showcased in this article. Posted via Windows Central app for SEGA Mega Drive using SEGA Channel.
  • Cortana. Given up on her on PC and phone. Just doesn't work outside of the US.
    No matter what you ask her, all I can get is the weather. Totally given her up as a bad joke, she was much better on 8.1, we've gone way way backwards :(
  • For the most part N M......Microsoft is becomeing a bad joke.  I am guessing ad blocking on edge is still "coming soon"....which in microsoft speak is we have decided to remove this feature from edge. 
  • What's wrong with you? There are already 2 adblockers for Edge. Posted via Windows Central app for SEGA Mega Drive using SEGA Channel.
  • Am I the only one that finds Edge to be a huge resource/performance hog?!? I mean, load this page in Edge and it sits here burning 30 cpu and memory being consumed seems to be at 500MB and growing... doing nothing! Now load the same page (this page!) in Internet Explorer and close down Edge, and now Internet Explorer is only using 0 cpu and under 100MB of memory used. HOW IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? Or is it a driver issue for my HP Spectre 12 x2 (latest consumer tablet made by HP)?!?  I thought the battery life was terrible until I closed Edge.
  • Same issues here.
  • I find that Windows central is almost unusable with Edge, but I think that's more about how the site is coded and less about Edge. It's time for WC to move away from Flash.
  • I guess the ad blocker does not solve the resource issues then.  Damn....going to chrome then.  I am on I.E.  now and there are a few things not working on it now.  Because once again,  MS bailed on the thing that was actually working great to come out with "edge" that is anything but an edge while browsing. 
  • I love it all except one thing. And this is so predictable. The new Start Menu completely throws un-savvy users right under the bus. It is a mistake and should be an option, it should not be the default. I'm not sure who the majority of users is, savy ones or un-savvy. But the vast majority of the folks that I help with their technology challenges, are older, unsavy, and have no one else in the house to help them with the constantly changing technology. Windows 8 was their disaster, Windows 10 made it almost all better, and the shoving of this interface change without the OPTION to put it back is a bad idea. They just need the option. This is what happens when you only listen to insiders and not the general public. Over 1000 votes to put it back the way it was in the Feedback Hub. Who are they listening to?    
  • Anyone else having issues with sketchpad? There doesn't seem to be an option to create a new sketch. Ruler is clunky to use. App is riddled with laggy performance on surface pro 4
  • Updated my pc to this build and now windows won't work. Explorer crashing every time and I cannot roll back or refresh my pc.
    Wtf....
  • I think the fixes are a super important part of non-insiders QoL. I'm really looking forward to see the (hopeful) positive reaction when it releases :)