Announced yesterday, the debut of the new Windows preview was accompanied by the long-awaited rollout of Windows 10 Mobile, currently available to only a select group of Windows 8.1 phones. Delayed repeatedly, the new mobile operating system will be offered over the coming weeks as a manually launched upgrade, rather than an automated "push" update.
The new preview build version of Windows 10 introduces three extensions for the Edge browser: Mouse Gestures, the Reddit Enhancement Suite and Microsoft Translator, which can automatically translate Web pages in more than 50 languages. Microsoft said it expects to release a number of other popular extensions for Edge later this year.
More Edge Updates, Better Maps
"Since the beginning of the Microsoft Edge project, our roadmap has always included extensions in order to support a vibrant community of developer innovation on top of the browser, enabling new and interesting scenarios for our customers," Microsoft Edge general manager Drew DeBruyne said yesterday in a post on the Windows Experience Blog. At the same time, Microsoft has made it a priority to create a browser that avoids poorly written or malicious extensions, which can be "a huge source of security, reliability and performance issues for browsers," he said.
To prevent such issues, Microsoft will first release new Edge extensions to its Windows Insiders for testing, DeBruyne said. After a successful test period, extensions will then become available to all users through the Windows Store. Other Edge extensions expected to come out later this year include those for AdBlock, Adblock Plus, Amazon, Evernote and LastPass, according to DeBruyne.
The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14291 also adds several other new features for Edge, including the ability to pin tabs for saving frequently visited Web sites and apps, easier tab closing for mobile devices, and paste-and-go/paste-and-search clipboard features. In addition, the preview introduces a number of improvements to the Maps app, including the ability to view multiple searches on a single map at once, and one-tap access to search and directions.
Windows 10 Mobile for Newer Devices Only
Windows 10 Mobile, meanwhile, is now available for download from the Windows Store as an upgrade to owners of 18 different models of Windows Phone 8.1 devices. Most eligible phones are Lumia devices, including the 640, 640XL, 930 and 1520. But the new OS is also available for the BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q and MCJ Madosma Q501.
Some devices that were able to run versions of the mobile operating system as part of the Windows 10 Mobile Insider program will not support the new release, according to Michael Fortin, corporate vice president for Windows and Devices Group core quality.
"As Windows 10 delivers significant new innovations, many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience," Fortin noted in the blog post. "Our goal is to only offer the Windows 10 upgrade to devices that we are confident can continue to deliver a good customer experience.