Microsoft has released a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build from the Redstone 2 branch. The latest Windows 10 Preview build 14942 is now live for PC Insiders in the Fast ring. Similar to the last few builds, today's release is also only rolled out for PC Insiders, and not to Windows 10 Mobile (which did receive 14936). However, it does finally bring some new features to the operating system, unlike the past few builds that focused on bug fixes.
- Just In: Microsoft Sends Press Invitations for Surface Hardware Event
Windows Update in the latest build is now an actual app. This means you can now set notification settings and set custom ringtones, and do other settings specific to app notifications. Microsoft has also added a new ability that will allow you to hide the app list in Start Menu. The company has also said the touchpad experience on Windows 10 will now be much improved, and the Photos app is also refined.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14942 for PC
Here's what's new in Windows 10 Insider Preview Redstone 2 14942 available for PC Fast ring Insiders.
Hide app list on Start: We are releasing a new feature that enables you to collapse the app list in the Start menu. This has been a top feedback request from Windows Insiders. You can try it out by going to Settings > Personalization > Start and turning on “Hide app list in Start menu”. 
Photos app update: With the latest Photos app update on your PC, the Photos app on your PC is now more beautiful and easier to navigate!
Plus, the Photos app is now available on your Xbox One! Show off a slideshow of all your OneDrive photos in your living room. Simply make sure you are signed in with your Microsoft account to see all your OneDrive photos on the big screen.
New Windows Update icon: We have introduced a new Windows Update icon to match the rest of the new iconography in Windows 10. After installing this build, you will see the new icon when Windows Update notifications appear and via Action Center. You can also manage notifications from Windows Update via Settings > System > Notifications.
Refining your precision touchpad experience: Based on the feedback we have received, we have made some adjustments to our gesture and click detection on precision touchpads. This includes enhancing detection and disambiguation of left and right clicks, making two finger taps and clicks a bit easier, reducing false positives in our two-finger tap detection and improving our pinch to zoom detection. We have also made algorithm changes in an effort to reduce inadvertent zooming when panning. If you have a precision touchpad on your device, please take the opportunity try out with this build and let us know how it feels with these changes.
There are several other feature improvements and bug fixes that today's release has brought in:
- Form field navigation in Narrator
- Expanding the Active Hours default range
- Service hosts are split into separate processes on PCs with 3.5 GB+ of RAM
- Improving the PC upgrade experience
- after upgrading from 14942, if an IT-Pro has de-provisioned an app from your OS image (and you haven’t reinstalled it yourself), that provisioning status will now be preserved after upgrade, and the app will not reinstall.
Known issues in Windows 10 14942 PC
Insiders doing web development may find themselves their local intranet server unreachable, as service host separation will leave the IIS World Wide Web Publishing Service (W3Svc) unable to start successfully. To fix this issue: Run the following from an admin cmd line (or edit the registry accordingly):
REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3SVC /v SvcHostSplitDisable /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WAS /v SvcHostSplitDisable /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Reboot the system, so that the W3Svc and WAS services share a service host process.
For more details, visit the official announcement post.
