It should come as no surprise to anyone as there has been a bit of notice, January 1st marked the date where Groove Music was finally discontinued. For those that were subscribers, you should have already gotten a pro-rated refund. The Groove Music App will still be maintained, which is good news. It is a great Windows app for listening to music.

For anyone looking for an alternative service, Microsoft has partnered with Spotify, which is a great service as well.

For more information on the loss of Groove Music, take a look at Microsoft’s FAQ for the discontinuation of the service.

On January 1, 2018, the Groove Music Pass streaming service was discontinued. If your Pass subscription went beyond December 31, 2017, we will give you (or already gave you) a prorated refund or a Microsoft gift card (see timing details below). We’ll continue to update the Groove Music app so you can play and manage the music you’ve purchased and downloaded to your PC or uploaded to OneDrive or another cloud storage service, but the app will no longer stream or play Groove Music Pass content.

A lot of new features in the latest build that was just released, build 17063. Make sure to check out the known issues before updating, as a few popular games (notably League of Legends) can cause a Green Screen of Death.

New features include Timeline, Sets, Fluent Design elements throughout. Check it out!

Known issues

• Popular Tencent games like League of Legends and NBA2k Online may cause 64-bit PCs to bugcheck (GSOD).
• [DEVELOPERS] Deploying an x86 app to a x64 PC remotely result in “FileNotFound” deployment failures if the target PC is running Build 17040. Deploying an x64 app to a x64 PC remotely or a x86 app to a x86 PC will work fine.
• Microsoft Edge may not receive Push Notifications from websites in this flight, due to an issue saving permissions on a per-site basis. We expect this issue to be resolved in the next preview build.
• Launching an immersive 360 degree video from the Movies and TV app within Windows Mixed Reality will result in the video facing the wrong way. Subsequent launches of 360 degree videos will work correctly.
• When users try to create a Microsoft Edge InPrivate window from inside a Mixed Reality headset, a regular window will get created instead. Users won’t be able to use InPrivate inside Mixed Reality in this build. InPrivate on desktop is not affected.
• We’re preparing for the inclusion of OpenSSH Server as a deployment mechanism in Developer Mode. However the UI code got checked in ahead of the components, and so while there is a “Use OpenSSH (Beta) for remote deployment” switch in the UI under Settings, it won’t work, and turning it on will break remote deployment to that device until the switch is turned off.
• If you’re using any EUDC fonts Microsoft Edge, Cortana, and other apps that use a webview won’t launch. You can resolve this issue by deleting the HKCU\EUDC key in Registry Editor. Note, if you do this, you won’t be able to see EUDC characters. We recommend you export this regkey before deleting it, so it’s easy to reapply the key in a future flight once the issue has been fixed.
• After upgrading to this build you may find touch and pen to not work on the non-primary display. Related to this, mouse, touch, and pen input might not happen in the right place after an orientation change or if you’re using a non-native aspect ratio. We’re working on a fix.

The latest build, build 17046, is now available to Fast Ring Insiders for Windows 10. As always, check the release notes to make sure there isn’t something in there that will directly affect you and stop you from using a feature that you count on!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

• We’ve added settings that let you view and manage your activity history, which Cortana uses to let you pick up where you left off. Find these settings in Settings > Privacy > Activity history.
• We fixed an issue where the Properties dialog for This PC in File Explorer wasn’t working in the last two builds.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Insiders with certain third party antiviruses and OneDrive Files on Demand enabled seeing an error in recent builds citing “OneDrive cannot connect to Windows”.
• We fixed an issue that could result in delays during logoff and shutdown when a UWP app was open and in suspended state.
• We fixed a community reported issue where display colors became distorted after upgrading on some TV’s and monitors that incorrectly advertised support for 10/12 bit wire formats.
• We fixed an issue from the previous flight that could cause heavily-threaded DirectX 12 apps to crash on launch after the first launch.
• We’ve adjusted the application of acrylic in the touch keyboard to better align with the fluent design standards.
• We fixed an issue where keys might remain highlighted when typing on the wide touch keyboard layout.
• We fixed an issue where keys might be dropped when typing with the Chinese (Simplified) touch keyboard.
• We fixed an issue where when writing a long sentence in the handwriting panel it might scroll while your pen was writing, resulting in an ink stroke across the panel.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the hardware keyboard text suggestions potentially not working until the touch keyboard had been launched once.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the mouse noticeably flickering between + and the mouse pointer icon when moving across cells in Excel 2016.
• We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders seeing their Start menu layout being reset after upgrading to the previous flight.
• We fixed an issue resulting in miniview windows (for example in Movies & TV or Skype) flying offscreen when attempting to be resized in the last few flights.
• We fixed an issue where clicking search results for settings in Settings in the last few flights would always take you to the top level category in the last few flights, rather than the actual category you searched for (for example, Display Settings instead of Storage Settings).

Known issues

• If you are experiencing broken functionality in Mail, Cortana, Narrator or missing some features like Windows Media Player, please see this Feedback Hub post: https://aka.ms/Rsrjqn. While this issue has been addressed, if you ever upgraded from 16299.xx to 16299.15 (and then to newer builds) you may still need to take the steps to get your PC back into a good state.
• Popular Tencent games like League of Legends and NBA2k Online may cause 64-bit PCs to bugcheck (GSOD).
• VPNs which use custom pop-up windows during connection attempts may fail to connect with error 720.
• Due to a bug that was introduced on this build, you may not receive all of your notifications from Cortana. Reminders are unaffected by this bug, but you may not receive other Cortana notifications that you are expecting. The fix for this should be in the next flight.
• [DEVELOPERS] Deploying an x86 app to a x64 PC remotely result in “FileNotFound” deployment failures if the target PC is running Build 17040. Deploying an x64 app to a x64 PC remotely or a x86 app to a x86 PC will work fine.
• All types of dynamic volumes listed here will not mount properly or be accessible from Windows. The data remains intact on the volume, it is just not accessible from this OS build. If you need access to the data you can roll back to an earlier build.  A fix for this issue will be released in the next build.
• After upgrading to build 17035 or later you may lose certain dictionary files, resulting in not being able to input Japanese or Traditional Chinese via IME, Touch Keyboard, or Handwriting if you are using a non-Japanese or non-Traditional Chinese language-based OS (like an English-based OS). We are working to fix it. In the meantime, this should help to get you unblocked:

1. Go to Start > Settings > Time & Language > Region & language.

2. Under Language, select your language (e.g. “Japanese”).

3. Click [Option] and if the [Download] button is available for “Basic typing” under the Language options, please click it to start download.

4. Once the dictionary files have been downloaded, you can check the status of the necessary optional feature in Settings > Apps > “Apps & features” > “Manage optional features”. The name will be something like “Japanese typing” or “Chinese (Taiwan) typing”.

For those out there that are Microsoft Certified Professionals and have taken beta tests in the past, there is an update to the beta program. Due to a lot of no-shows when it comes to the beta exams, Microsoft will be giving an 80% discount on the beta exams instead of 100%. You also get a 20% discount when you show up – pass or fail. If you’re planning another certification in the next year, it can make the beta exam essentially free.

As many of you know, seats for many of our beta exams fill rapidly, which, in theory, should be a good thing. Quick registration means high levels of interest, which should translate into having a sufficient enough of candidates taking our exams quickly enough that we can perform the required psychometric analysis to identify the good items and remove the bad items in a few weeks.

However, we are seeing an increasing number of no shows. Unfortunately, these seats are “lost,” meaning that they took a seat from someone who would have showed up but couldn’t participate in the beta because all the seats were taken when s/he tried to register, often requiring us to extend betas. As a result, every no show delays our ability to gather the necessary data to move the exam out of beta and delays the scoring of the beta exam for those who DID show up—because we need several hundred completed exams before we can start scoring.

The Fast Ring of the Windows Insider program has just received a new build, build 17040. As always, be sure to check the change notes for the known issues in case there is a show stopper for you.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

• We’ve added settings that let you view and manage your activity history, which Cortana uses to let you pick up where you left off. Find these settings in Settings > Privacy > Activity history.
• We fixed an issue where network profiles might change from Private to Public after upgrading to the previous build.
• We fixed an issue resulting in checkboxes being missing from certain win32 apps.
• We fixed a typo in the Windows Defender Security Center’s Controlled Folder Settings.
• We fixed an issue resulting not being able to fully remove Windows.old in the last two flights.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Narrator not saying anything when the candidate bar for hardware keyboard prediction opened. We also fixed an issue where Narrator wasn’t reading the word candidate when the focus moved into candidate bar.
• We fixed an issue where the “Working on updates” screen was black with a small theme colored box instead of entirely theme colored.
• We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders experiencing a green screen on the previous flight with the error BAD_POOL_CALLER.
• We fixed an issue resulting in UWP app sometimes leaving drop shadow leftovers after closing the window.
• We fixed an issue where inactive window scrolling wouldn’t work if Excel 2016 was in focus.
• We fixed an issue resulting in a noticeable flicker when using hotkeys or a precision touchpad to switch between virtual desktops.
• We fixed an issue where the XAML Reveal light wouldn’t follow your mouse until the first mouse click – instead showing the entire element lit. This issue was visible in Settings and other XAML based UI in the last few builds.
• We fixed an issue resulting in changes to Feedback Frequency in Feedback & Diagnostics Settings not persisting after leaving the page and returning.
• We fixed an issue where Start wouldn’t open if you pressed the Windows key when the system menu from elevated Command Prompt or Task Manager window was open.
• We fixed a rare issue where if you had certain streaming-capable apps on your PC before upgrading you might end up seeing a black screen with only a cursor for some time after logging in.
• We fixed an issue from recent flights where the “Add” button in the PIN section of Sign-in Option Settings didn’t work for local accounts.
• We’ve updated the icon for Collections in Cortana.
• We’ve updated the touch keyboard so that the margin between each key is visual only. This change will be noticeable if you accidentally overshoot the key press by just a tiny bit – before it might seem as if key presses were being dropped in this scenario.
• Based on your feedback, the feature to restore applications that have registered for application restart after you reboot or shutdown (through power options available on the Start Menu and various other locations) has been set to only occur for users that have enabled “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting my device after an update or restart” in the Privacy section under Sign-in Options Settings.

Known issues

• If you are experiencing broken functionality in Mail, Cortana, Narrator or missing some features like Windows Media Player, please see this Feedback Hub post: https://aka.ms/Rsrjqn.
• Popular Tencent games like League of Legends and NBA2k Online may cause 64-bit PCs to bugcheck (GSOD).
• VPNs which use custom pop-up windows during connection attempts may fail to connect with error 720.
• Due to a bug that was introduced on the previeous build, you may not receive all of your notifications from Cortana. Reminders are unaffected by this bug, but you may not receive other Cortana notifications that you are expecting. We are working to resolve this issue and will release the fix in an upcoming flight.
• The Properties dialog for This PC in File Explorer isn’t working and can’t be invoked from the context menu.
• Insiders with certain third party antiviruses and OneDrive Files on Demand enabled may see an error citing “OneDrive cannot connect to Windows”.

Those in the Fast Ring are now able to update to 17017. Not a whole lot of new features, numerous fixes. As usual – check the known issues to see if there is a show stopper for you!

Known issues

• If you are experiencing broken functionality in Mail, Cortana, Narrator or missing some features like Windows Media Player, please see this Feedback Hub post: https://aka.ms/Rsrjqn.
• Using a swipe gesture with touch to dismiss notifications from the Action Center is currently not working. We’re investigating – for now you’ll need to use the clear all button, or use mouse/keyboard.
• There’s a noticeable screen flicker when using hotkeys or the touchpad to switch between Virtual Desktops.
• Invoking the Game bar with Win + G may cause the mouse cursor to become unresponsive while Game bar is up. Keyboard navigation still works and pressing Win + G again will close the Game bar, restoring the mouse cursor to the game.
• Calendar toast dismiss and snooze icons may be missing from notifications in Action Center.

If your Windows 10 device hasn’t updated to the newest Fall Creators Update, don’t worry, you’ll get it. It’s by design. Microsoft has implemented a phased rollout approach to the release of their updates.

The Fall Creators Update begins rolling out to newer devices tested by us and our device partners. By starting with machines which we believe will have the best update experience, we are able to get focused feedback on application compatibility and how Windows works with the rich ecosystem of available peripherals like Bluetooth devices or cameras. Additionally, we closely monitor feedback from fans and early adopters, through programs like Windows Insiders and Windows Insider for Business, in addition to feedback from our OEM device partners, and customers like you! This helps us determine when to accelerate the release to additional devices. We repeat this process until all compatible devices running Windows 10 worldwide are offered the Fall Creators Update.

Microsoft Technet has a blog post on what is new in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update that will apply to IT Pro’s, rather than just the average home user (some home users use features designed for the enterprise, so not ALL home users are excluded!).

Also to note – you can register for an upcoming webcast with a Q&A session with Michael Niehaus and Nathan Mercer. These are always nice to attend as they are great at presenting a lot of useful information and answering some of the questions people may have.

A lot of great new additions to Windows 10 FCU for those that manage Windows 10 in their environment.

Windows 10, version 1709 (also known as the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update) is now available via Windows Update for Business, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), the Volume Licensing Servicing Center (VLSC), and Visual Studio Subscriptions. We have also updated the Windows Assessment and Development Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 10 and the free, 90-day Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation.

Windows 10, version 1709 is the fourth feature update for Windows 10, offering IT professionals a comprehensive set of intelligent security solutions, streamlined deployment and management options, and proactive insights to help protect data and devices, save time, and reduce costs. We recommend that you test the newest features and functionality in this Semi-Annual Channel release now in preparation for broad deployment to the devices in your organization.

Microsoft has done the greatest thing ever for it’s employees – made them a tree house working area. Working outside is a plus in itself, but working outside in a tree fort is one of the best things ever! I can see being more productive, more relaxed, and opening more communications by having meetings and working in this environment. I would love to work here whenever I could. I know there are some ‘Softies in Redmond thinking “We should have a meeting!”, just to get out there and enjoy the new space!