Microsoft Rolls Out First Build Update For Window 10 Insiders, Nearly 7K Improvements, New Action Center

Microsoft made clear that its Windows 10 Technical Preview is a work in progress and that the whole point of giving users early access to the next generation operating system through the Windows Insider program is to collect feedback (in other words, Microsoft doesn't want another Windows 8 situation on its hands). Well, after just three weeks of being out in the wild, Microsoft is rolling out its first new build.

This isn't just a minor update, either. Just the opposite, Build 9860 is a 2GB to 2.74GB download (depending on CPU architecture and language) that includes nearly 7,000 improvements and fixes, many of which are based on problem reports submitted in the Community forum or through the Windows Feedback app.

Sit back and relax as we cover each and every one of them in great detail. Actually, scratch that plan -- Windows 10 would be a legacy OS by the time we got finished. Besides, most of the changes are invisible to the end user, though there are some highlights worth mentioning, such as the new Action Center.

"We aren’t limiting our view to one specific device type. We are looking across our entire product family to look at ways to bring great experiences to our customers across different devices. So with this build, we’re bringing 'Action Center' from Windows Phone over to the PC as the place where you can see and follow up on all actionable items," Microsoft stated in a blog post. "This build is focused ONLY on enabling basic notifications – quick actions and cleaner UI will come later."

Notifications from the system and apps will appear in the Action Center -- things like new emails, chat invites, Facebook posts, and so forth. The idea is to give users a single place where they can view everything that's important, just as you can on your smartphone.

Microsoft also implemented an animation for switching desktops. Based on feedback the company received, users were finding it difficult to know when they were switching desktops, hence the animation to alleviate any confusion.

There will be more changes in upcoming builds. Microsoft says it's received over 250,000 piece of feedback through the Windows Feedback tool, plus another 25,381 community forum posts and 641 suggestions in the Windows Suggestion Box.