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Early features and functionality are starting to appear in the latest Windows 10 Redstone 3 builds; the next major revision of Microsoft's client operating system. Microsoft is currently working on the core of the operating system to support new features that will define this release. Two new features focus on performance, mobility and IT-Pro's. Build 16179 includes the usual assortment of bug fixes users have diligently reported using the Feedback app. Windows 10 Mobile also received a new build, 15205, which is still on the Redstone 2 branch. Its a long road ahead, but we should get a clearer picture about Windows 10 RS3 at Microsoft's developer conference, next month.

The second build for Microsoft's next major update to Windows 10, codenamed, Redstone 3, build 16176 was released today. Similar to the first release, there is not much to see yet; the platform is being setup for the new features to show up. For now, enthusiast can upgrade if they are interested and play with it. Here are some additional details: The Windows Blog notes one feature improvement in the latest RS3 build though, but this is more of interest to users utilizing the Windows 10 Subsystem for Linux. Windows 10 Mobile devices also received an update. The device support list for the Creators Update in particular has been shortened. Its all relative though. Apple's iOS 10 for instance supports only seven models of iPhone; six if you take into account iOS 10.2's requirement for a 64 bit device. As for Redstone 3, I recently installed the first build, as expected, there really isn't anything new; it's basically the Creators Update at this point. Going forward, I might just limit it to a partition on one of my devices and occasionally install builds. These updates take bandwidth, which I have very little of, so, I would rather spend that 4 GBs downloading cumulative updates and app updates for commercial releases and my other devices.

The Windows 10 Creators Update is not even generally available yet, but the Windows Insider Program surprised enthusiast today with an early build of the next version of company's flagship operating system. Only the PC build has been released in x86 and x64 architectures. The latest build number is 16170, a major jump from the RTM release, 15063, for the Creators Update. As noted, early adopters likely won't see anything new, but for users anxious to participate in the development of Windows 10, this is the place to be. If you are not ready to start playing with a new build, especially a buggy early build such as Redstone 3, you should switch to the slow or release preview rings or stop Windows Insider Builds all together. To do that, click Start > Settings > Update & security > Windows Insider Program and moving to the Slow or Release Preview rings. It will probably be a while before we start seeing anything substantially new. Some features that did not make it in the Creators Update such as the My People app, 3D Capture app are likely to show up this time. Rumor is a new user experience is planned for Redstone 3, called Project Neon. Expect Microsoft to double down on flagship features and technologies such as Cortana, Gaming and Mixed Reality. I'll be loading up this build in a VM just to see what its like. If I find anything interesting, I will let you know.

The job of a Windows Insider never ends, but thats the fun reality of being one. While the vast majority of the general population of computer users will be experiencing the Windows 10 Creators Update for the first time, on April 11th, millions of Windows Insiders will be preping their devices for the next revision. The next version of Windows 10 that follows the Creators Update is rumored to be called Redstone 3 or RS3. Anything can change, but for now, we will go with that. Here is a list of previous codenames used for Windows 10: Windows 10 1507 - Threshold Windows 10 1511 - Threshold 2 Windows 10 1607 - Redstone Windows 10 1703 - Redstone 3 Microsoft's Dona Sarkar, Software Engineer within the Windows Devices Group, announced on the Windows Blog today, Insiders should prepare for the next cycle. The announcement lets users know that the next revision of Windows 10 won't be feature rich initially, as the engineers will need time to optimize the software code so developers can prepare to build new features on top. It is likely these early builds will be a bit buggy too, so, if you prefer waiting a bit, you can do so by pausing Windows Insider Updates until the code stabilizes. Dona goes on to give instructions how Windows Insiders can stop or pause updates: I plan to pause Windows Insider builds a bit until the dust settles. There is still a lot of stuff to discover in the Creators Update and I want to share my experiences with them. That doesn't mean I want to stop being on the bleeding edge. I have a spare machine to test and hopefully the new version will work in a virtual machine. Not much is known about Redstone 3, but some features promised for the Creators Update that were dropped, might finally show up. The new My People app, which lets you share and communicate with family and friend and a Capture app for recording content you can import to apps such as the new Paint 3D. When will Windows 10 Redstone 3 be released? On average, each revision takes at least 6 to 8 months to complete. Microsoft first announced Redstone in December of 2016, which launched in August of 2016. Redstone followed up a couple weeks later and was completed in March of 2017, so we can probably put Redstone 2 release somewhere in the fall (October - November).