Microsoft continues the push to deliver the Windows 10 Anniversary Update on 02 August with another build release, 14388 for PCs and Mobile devices, as testing for the only major update expected in 2016 gets its final tweaks before its general availability next month.
Just as you should expect when development of a major update is being wrapped up, this build does not introduce any new features and the list of checked in updates has shrunk to just 44 items according to Windows Insider Program lead Dona Sarkar.
If you are keeping track like us this now brings the total number of builds released for PCs and Mobile hardware testing of the Anniversary Update to 45.
The majority of those fixes focus on improving reliability, battery life and accessibility on the operating system and there is only one new known issue and that is for Windows 10 on mobile hardware. It is related to having to enter a Wallet PIN twice when using Tap to Pay on a locked phone.
For those of you concerned that you are not seeing major visual changes between these builds - that is intentional as most of the work is happening under the hood in the form of those fixes I mentioned earlier. All of the work at this point is very incremental and can seem extremely boring from the perspective of a Windows Insider but testing these builds is a key to reaching the final build of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.
Under the premise of Windows as a Service, the final steps before releasing an update for Windows like the Anniversary Update is very different than it was for previous versions of Windows.
Bugs are now looked at and considered for their severity and potential to cause a show stopping issue. Any other minor bugs can be prioritized and pushed into a later cumulative update, which get released monthly for Current Branch builds of Windows 10 these days, and they can then be fixed at that point.
Any bugs that are in first party apps such as Photos, Mail, Calendar, Groove Music, etc. will be triaged by the team responsible for that app and they can ship fixes for those issues at anytime through an app update via the Windows Store.
So, how close are we to that final gold build of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update?
I am still of the mind that we should see at least one more, possibly two, builds as testing wraps up for the Anniversary Update. After that the decision to pick a build and designate it as the final one will be imminent.
As of today we are just less than three weeks away from the scheduled release of this update on 02 August. Barring a major show stopping bug Windows Insiders should see that final build shortly after that last testing build is released.
Yes, I still think the final build number for this update will be 14400.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
