Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10041 in pictures

The wait for a new preview build has evidently ended (for this week) and after two months since Microsoft started seeding Build 9926, today they are releasing Build 10041 which brings us closer to the final release of Windows 10 later this Summer. In this build, the Windows 10 team did not include the Project Spartan browser nor the new Cortana interface but there are several visual improvements which is enough to satisfy us Windows Insiders for the time being.

Somehow i realized that i did not do a write-up on Build 9926 but never mind that. So, for today's article i will specifically reference my views based on the comparison between the latest Build 10041 with the first Build 9841 version released late last year.

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Alright, before getting into the details of what's new and hot in this preview build, let's clear up some things about updating to Build 10041. Currently this preview build is exclusively available to users which select the 'fast' option in Windows Update and Microsoft says that the separate ISO file will be available alongside the 'slow' update ring in the coming days. So, if you're interested in getting this build today, you might need to opt in the 'fast' update ring option.

One of the first things you'll notice about this build is that the build numbers is now 5 digits. But besides that, you will also see the new installation page which is unlike older builds. The new installation page no longer shows a progress bar on the bottom; Instead, a circle progress ring is shown front and center.

The blue ring indicates the percentage of the installation is done and besides that, there is nothing much shown on screen besides some advice which asks you to sit back and relax while the installation is in progress. For my laptop, the update as a whole took nearly two hours to download and completely boot up into the new build, your mileage may vary on this given that my laptop is running on an age old hard drive.

That is about it for the writing, scroll down to enjoy the photos showing the various views of Build 10041.

The start menu/screen is now translucent just like on Windows 7

Take a look at the new Insider Hub in Build 10041

There's now also missions and some stats about your progress as an Insider

The slider and switches are now pea shaped

Task view now layers above opened windows

You can now move applications across virtual desktops

Clicking on the network connection icon no longer redirects you to the settings