Download and test Windows 10 Build 18242 for the 19H1 update

The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is approaching, but Microsoft is already starting to get the first big Windows 10 update together for 2019. That is the 19H1 update which will probably roll out around April 2019. The software giant released the first notable 19H1 preview in July for Windows Insiders in the Skip Ahead ring. Now Microsoft has just released a new Windows 10 build preview 18242 for the spring 2019 update.

The 18242 preview build, however, shows us very little about what Microsoft has in store for 19H1. The latest preview build provides relatively minor refinements for Windows 10. It fixes Action Center, thumbnail, Narrator, PowerShell, Edge PDF rendering, Task Manager and Bluetooth audio issues; but there’s nothing new in the 18242 preview. Thus, Microsoft is seemingly preoccupied with the impending October 2018 Update at the moment.

However, earlier 19H1 preview builds have shown us a few new things that Microsoft might add to Windows 10 in spring 2019. Microsoft has released the 18242 preview about a week after the 18237 preview build, which includes a revamped lock screen. For the 18237 preview build, Microsoft added an Acrylic brush texture effect to the lock screen that blurs its background. That might be just one in a series of new Fluent Design changes the spring 2019 update adds to Win 10.

The first test builds for 19H1 also included a Mixed Reality Flashlight option for WMR headsets. That enables users to open monochrome video feed portals within their headsets through which they can then see the real world. The video below shows you the Mixed Reality Flashlight portals within a WMR headset.

In addition, earlier 19H1 test builds incorporated new Group Policies for Edge. Edge users can configure the browser’s Favorites Bar, Home Bar and kiosk mode with the new Group Policy settings. Furthermore, they can turn off printing, full-screen mode, saving history and sideloading in Edge via Group Policy.

However, 19H1 build previews have revealed little else about what the spring 2019 update will deliver for Windows 10. Once the October 2018 Update has rolled out, the build previews will provide a bigger insight for the 19H1 update than the 18242 preview has done.

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