The Windows 10 Creators Update is due to ship sometime next month, and Microsoft is in the final stages of preparing for the release by rolling out new builds to about twice per week as it enters the last stages of bug squashing mode.
Windows Insiders this week got Build 15058 on Monday and Build 15060 on late Thursday as Microsoft charges for the finish line. And now Insiders can register to get the Creators Update when it is released.
Microsoft has changed things a bit with Windows 10. In the olden days, a large update like the Creators Update was shipped as a Service Pack and usually pushed out on Patch Tuesday to everyone at once. The result was usually massive network congestion, timeouts, and failures.
Now, Microsoft staggers the rollout, so you might get the update the day of its release or you might get it a month later. There is no telling. However, there is a way to insure you get to the front of the line.
It starts by being a Windows Insider. Those brave souls have been using beta builds of the OS all along and helped Microsoft in the development of the operating system, but also likely endured all manner of bugs and ensuing headaches that went along with it.
You can sign up here if you are not a member. The next step is to download and install the latest Insider release, which is Build 15060 as of this writing.
Once that is set, go to Settings, and open "Update & Security." Under "Update History" you’ll see a message stating "Good news! The Windows 10 Creators Update is on its way. Want to be one of the first to get it?" Click the "Yes, show me how" link under this to opt in and you’ll see a confirmation message:
Thank you for your interest in being one of the first to experience the Windows 10 Creators Update! We’re finalizing the update and will be ready to share it with you soon. When the update is ready for your device, you’ll receive a notification asking you to review your privacy settings before downloading the update.
At that point you are set. Just remember by signing up for Insider, you will get new builds pushed out to your PC at regular intervals, so don't use it on a critical, work, or production machine.
Build 15058 is viewed as fairly stable but has a bunch of known issues, including:
- Some PCs may fail to update to Build 15002 and higher due to SYSTEM_PTE_MISUSE error.
- Some apps and games may crash due to a misconfiguration of advertising ID that happened in a prior build. Specifically, this issue affects new user accounts that were created on Build 15031.
- There is a bug where if you need to restart your PC due to a pending update, like with the latest Surface firmware updates, the restart reminder dialog doesn’t pop up.
- Certain hardware configurations may cause the broadcast live review window in the Game bar to flash Green while you are Broadcasting. This does not affect the quality of your broadcast and is only visible to the Broadcaster.
- Surface Pro 3 and Surface 3 devices will fail to update to new builds if a SD memory card is inserted. So remove the SD memory card and re-insert it after the latest build is installed.
If none of that scares you off, happy updating!