Windows 10 build 15014 for PC: Everything you need to know

Microsoft releases a new test preview as part of the Creators Update. This time around, the company is rolling out Windows 10 build 15014 for PC and Mobile devices through the Fast ring, and this new flight delivers a new wave of features and improvements.

Windows 10 build 15014 is a minor update, but it provides many new changes, including a new updated version of Microsoft Edge, which allows you to read ebooks that you can now purchase from the Windows Store. You can now pick your very own accent color when personalizing your Windows 10 experience. On the Creators Update, the operating system can automatically free up space when needed, there is a new slider on the power flyout to improve battery file or performance on demand, and a lot more.

We're expecting to see these new features and changes as part of the final release of the Windows 10 Creators Update, which should be available sometime in April.

While this release is available for both PC and Mobile, here we're going to be focusing on the PC version of Windows 10.

Here's everything you need to know about the most recent preview of Windows 10 for PC.

Windows build 15014

Start & Cortana

On Windows 10 build 15014, the Start menu remains virtually the same, but Microsoft is adding a few improvements, including a new animation when creating folders to make the experience a bit smoother.

Cortana isn't getting significant changes either, but the search box has been updated with a slightly new look featuring lighter color shade. Also, Cortana's voice notifications and Action Center look more consistent with larger text size and accent color.

Desktop

This flight also introduces a new power management feature to improve the battery life on Windows 10 devices.

Starting with build 15014, some of you will notice an updated power flyout on the Taskbar, which includes a new slider to change the power scheme. With this new feature, you'll be able to switch power modes from "Best battery life" to make your battery last longer. Or you can move the slider up to "Best performance" to makes sure your device gets optimal performance on demanding tasks -- but keep in mind that you'll be sacrificing battery life using this mode.

Image source: Microsoft

The new power management slider is currently for showing and it doesn't work, but the company says that the feature will be operational in future test previews of the operating system. While users will be able to change the power settings manually, Microsoft also notes that is "working with OEMs to determine the best settings for their customers, so that they can ship those on new Windows 10 PCs."

Additionally, the power flyout no longer includes the "Battery Saver" button, as a new power slider will be incorporated.

On Windows 10 build 15014, the Mail app is pinned by default on the Taskbar, but you can always unpin it, and in future updates, it will no longer appear by default on the Taskbar.

Another small change is happening in the power user menu (Windows key + X). Previously, we noticed Microsoft removing Control Panel from the menu for Settings. Now in build 15014, the company is also replacing "Programs and Features" for "Apps & features," which opens the Settings app instead of Control Panel.

Settings

On Windows 10 build 15014, the Settings app continues to improve, as the company introduces new features and tweaks.

Display

On Settings > System, the Display page updates the Blue Light settings. Now when you click the Blue light settings link, you'll notice an updated slider to change the color temperature, and when lowering blue light, there is a new animation that should be a little smoother than before.

Microsoft also says that new tweaks will be added in future builds.

Storage

On Settings > System, the Storage page now includes a new Storage sense section that introduces a new feature, which allows the operating system to free up space by deleting files, such as temporary files and those items that have been in the recycle bin for more than 30 days.

This feature is optional, and you can enable it by turning on the Storage sense toggle switch.

You can also click the Change how we free up space link to access a new page, which includes two options letting you decide the files you want Windows 10 to delete automatically.

Also, there is a Clean now button to free up space on your hard drive on demand.

Wi-Fi

On Settings > Network & Internet, the Wi-Fi page has been updated and now it combines the "Wi-Fi Sense" and "Paid Wi-Fi Services" into a new section called "Wi-Fi services".

Keep in mind that while you'll no longer see the mention for "Wi-Fi Sense," the feature continues to be there. It's the "Connect to suggested open hotspots" under Wi-Fi services.

Colors

On Settings > Personalization, the Colors page has been improved to allow you to pick a custom color accent.

On Windows 10 build 15014, you'll now see a Custom color button under "Windows colors" that allows you to create your very own color accent.

In the color picker, you can pick from virtually any accent color, but choose carefully as some colors will be hard to read and some colors aren't supported.

You can also click the More button to enter specific colors using RGB, HSV, or HEX color codes.

Also, the Automatic pick an accent color from my background option has been relocated to the top of the Colors page.

It's important to note that the color picker is also available in Background when you select "Solid Color" or "Picture" from the drop-down menu.

Themes

On Settings > Personalization, the Themes page includes a new Get more themes online, but this time the button will open the new "Windows Themes" section in the Windows Store.

Currently, all the themes available in the Store are the same you can already download online (over 100 as of now), but additional free and paid themes will start popping up anytime soon.

Windows Update

On Settings > Update & security, the Windows Update page remains virtually the same as previous builds, but in the Advanced options page there is a section that you select when feature update are installed on your system.

The new feature let you pick between "Current Branch" and "Current Branch for Business." In addition, there is an option to defer "feature updates" up to one year of its release, and another option to defer "quality updates" for up to 30 days.

Removable drives

On Settings > Update & security there is a new Removable drives page, which allows you to control whether or not users can save files to a removable drive that is not using BitLocker encryption.

Windows Store

On Windows 10 build 15014, Microsoft introduces a new ebook section in the Windows Store. Starting on this flight, Windows 10 users in the United States can purchase ebooks directly from the Store and read them in Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft Edge

This release also includes a new updated version of Microsoft Edge that includes a few new features and tweaks.

As mentioned above, you can now get ebooks from the Windows Store, but instead of building an ebook reader app for Windows 10, the software giant is making changes in Microsoft Edge to add support for ebooks.

On Windows 10 build 15014, Microsoft Edge bumps its version number to 39.15014 and adds a new Books section that you can access inside of the Hub, where you'll find all the books you've purchased from the Windows Store.

While the web browser already includes support for PDF files, on build 15014, Microsoft is also adding support for unprotected epub files.

The reading experience for books has also been updated on Microsoft Edge. When you open ebooks with the Windows 10 Creators Update, you'll be able to use the table of contents or seek bar at the bottom of the browser to navigate.

You can bookmark pages to make it easier to come back to an interesting section of your book. And like in most ebook readers, you can search words or phrases, and you can play embedded video and audio content.

Of course, the browser always remembers the last page you were reading, so you can quickly pick up where you left off at any time, even when you don't have an internet connection.

Other customization options include the ability to change text and add text spacing, and you can modify the font style and the page background.

Alongside these new improvements, Microsoft Edge also includes a new icon to open Web Notes to annotate web pages using Windows Ink features.

And the advanced settings page feature a new option to enable or disable sites that open in apps instead of loading the web page.

Snipping Tool

On Windows 10 build 15014, Microsoft is also updating its Snipping Tool with a new icon and new "Move" menu to access the snipping modes, including Free-form Snip, Rectangular Snip, Windows Snip, and Full-screen snip.

Wrapping things up

While this isn't a big update -- compared to Windows 10 build 15002 --, it's a good test preview with many welcome additions, and the overall performance is a lot better than previous releases. Though, it's not recommended to install this pre-release version on your main computer, because there are still a lot of things not working or not working correctly.

It's important to note that not everything is good news with Windows 10 build 15014, as Microsoft has also announced that won't be delivering the MyPeople feature, which is perhaps the biggest feature we're expecting with the Creators Update.

If you recall, MyPeople is a feature that brings your closest contacts front and center in the Taskbar, and it allows you to share messages and files with other people quickly. Unfortunately, there has been a change in the original plans, and Microsoft will not be delivering this feature with the Creators Update. Instead, it will become a feature that will be introduced with the Windows 10 Redstone 3, which is the next major update of the operating system expected to roll out sometime in Fall 2017.

This flight also includes some fixes and a bunch of new known issues, which Microsoft is listing in its official website.

What do you think about the new changes found in Windows 10 build 15014? Are you disappointed that Microsoft won't be including MyPeople with the Creators Update? Tell us in the comments below.

More Windows 10 resources

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

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.

41 Comments
  • Just curious how Mobile Fast Ring Insiders would rate the recent builds. I have a 950 on Release Preview and have been thinking about taking the plunge. How is general performance? Also I use Bluetooth everyday and it's a deal breaker for me.
  • It has been great for me on 950XL but some have reported reboots. I like the new device discovery capabilities like being able to add a printer and so forth. Bluetooth pairing has been consistent but I did run into an issue using NFC for pairing Bluetooth. Had to put the device into discovery mode but it worked great after that. Of course, I submitted feedback on the failure with monitoring so hopefully that will help with NFC in the future.
  • No more reboots for me but app tend to crash on opening and during use. 950xl
  • Don't take the plunge. There is literally nothing on RS2 yet except bugs. Not worth it.
  • 15007 was not good on my 950. Almost constant crashes and reboots. 15014 was better - didn't crash but apps not installing properly, store not working correctly, battery life very poor... Hard reset did not help. Recovered to 14393 and upgraded directly to 15014 did not help. So, I recovered to 14393 again and I'm gonna have to stay here for awhile.
  • This is the best fast ring build i have ever installed because phone and apps are responsive and fast. Only a keyboard bug i have rarely, but the rest (including VPN and Edge) working very fine on my L950. It seems people with same devices having different experiences.
  • Nice summary. I like the progress. Need to hook up my Kinect v2 to use it for scanning objects into 3D Builder. Really excited to see how that progresses across PC and mobile.
  • Still getting GSOD when trying to update from 14986 to 1500x+. The install fails and reverts back to 14986. This is on a SP4.
  • Did you try using the ISO file ?
  • I have the same problem with the ISO file too. Won't even boot into it.
  • Then there's a problem with your downloaded ISO file, or the way you put that ISO into your thumb drive (in case you use it). Anyways, did you use Windows Media Creation Tool?
  • Not at all. That's consistent with how it works when trying to upgrade the conventional way. When trying to upgrade that way, I get a GSOD after the update is installed and it tries to reboot into the new version. When using the ISO boot disk, the new version is already on disk, but the GSOD happens at the same time -- when trying to run the new version. If you search the Feedback hub, you'll find many, many people with the same problem (including trying the ISO).
  • I see. It's a pretty weird new bug in it then. What kind of laptop do you have? I think that relates with your BIOS/UEFI cknfiguration... 🤔 EDIT: is that bugcheck related to storport.sys file?
  • Yeah, I think that's the error. I'm using a budget HP with an AMD processor. Most complaints I've seen have come from people using AMD processors, so that might be the key. Been using this laptop since day one of the Insider program, and have managed to avoid most of the problems that have cropped up from time to time for people -- until this one.
  • I had trouble a few builds ago with my SP3. Saw a workaround that said to remove any MicroSD. Did, and it installed right away. Any way, give that a shot. Can't hurt.
  • ^^ What he said. It has gotten to the point where I take the microSD card out of my SP3 before I go to install each new version. My problems have gone away.
  • I literally unplugged everything from my laptop except the power cord, and it didn't help.
  • Same. 😢
  • Perhaps they will fix the Favorites toolbar in Edge so that you can actually re-order and delete favorites that overflowed off the end of it and into the drop down list.
  • Yeah, unfortunately it seems too late for any features on Edge. I just don't get it their priority why they can't push first basic web browser feature first instead of adding things that likely never even asked for. Yes they have different people working on those they said, but why it took so much time even just for those yet managed to even release eBook capability first? It feels its more of their management different priority with short on resources and manpower. Edge still left not being completely solid web browser with these features still absent. We still don't have UI to reopen closed tabs, no syncing of tabs like what IE did, not able to middle-click navigation buttons and menus to make new Tab from them, not able to drag items to tab area to make new Tab from it. Not to mention tab is still clunky to use as it is too easy to undock and too hard too dock a tab.
  • right click on taskbar ia no longer Working to get to the settings of the taskbar :/
  • I hope they will revert the change of Search bar in the Taskbar. It looks so out-of-place and kinda ugly that the contrast is right-on-the-face. The previous one were nice and more subtle. This new change maybe is good for light theme on Taskbar, but that's not coming yet so why rush showing it? It looks bad right now. Anyways, the rest of updates are great. I hope we will get more UI polish even after this month of feature-lock. I still wish that we got the tab syncing and history to reopen closed tabs on Edge. These two are standard feature on web browsers that Edge team kept not implemented while we got eBook capability that kinda not needed for a web browser that could've just make a separate more focused eBook app. Opening a web browser just to read books seems an odd approach or something at least personally I wouldn't thought of.
  • I dont like the new cortana ui
  • My action center (PC) is showing nothing it is just blank. Anyone is having this ?
  • I did in the last build. I had to roll back, then install again.
  • Yes
  • Custom Colour accents. Now that's a feature I've been wanting for a very long time on my Lumia!
  • I like this new build. Seems more "stable " than the previous one. Cortana with accent color is nice but the taskbar light grey color.. just no. Also the notifications are maybe too large.
  • Question. I read a lot of novels and would love to use Edge for this. The one thing I'm hoping for is page turn. Seems more natural way of reading books.  Can Edge enable page turn or are we stuck with Microsoft's MetroUI Slide thing?
  • I am having major issues with this build. I can't view videos either streaming or recorded. The Movies & TV app just shows spinning dots, if it does start playing the audio service shuts down. Restarting the audio service causes the video to freeze. Twitter on Edge browser hangs constantly and crashes the browser tab. I tried rolling back to a previous build only to get the message that the files needed to roll back don't exist. Hoping for a new build soon that fixes all of this.
  • I'm stuck in the 14977, on my 950. Any idea how to overcome this?
  • You could always hard reset, clean install and try again. Usually it fixes updating problems
  • Is it available for windows phone 📱 also. If so please reply
  • This is the first stable Creators Update preview I have installed on my SP3. I like what they've done so far... I would really, really like to bring back Messaging Anywhere... I text a lot and doing so from my PC or SP3, which is front of me most of the day, would be awesome (again)
  • Messaging Anywhere is not coming back AFAIK as even on 14393 the Messaging app now states that it's just for viewing text messages.
  • I thought that MS was going to focus more on Mobile for this update, but I haven't really seen anything in it at all for Creators update that are anything significant, especially in that it needs major UX consistency refinements to be taken seriously. I still love it though.
  • My Surface 3 has several apps that give "This app can't open". Reset and reinstalled them, get an error when downloading. Hey MS, you're a software company, fix your ******* software.
  • You are right, but anytime when you point out anything wrong with MS these fanboys get butthurt and -1 your comments or just make excuses!
  • People don't always DV just because they're "fanboys", pretty wrong to assume that. People DV for all sorts of rationales, which you apparently haven't contemplated.
  • Why would you have it open inside Edge instead of the Reading app, that is just plane stupid...plus I would like to use Edge while reading. Let's just home this will change!
  • I did a fresh instal on one of my machines and now after the update Windows won't let me set up my usual easy to remember pin as an alternative to my Windows password. It's rejecting the pin as being too easy, but it should be up to me what pin I choose for any given device, not MS. Does anyone know of a way around this?