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Windows 10 Build 17040 is now available for the Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring, the preview update adds new features and improvements to the operating system.

In a blog post, Microsoft announced the availability of Windows 10 Build 17040 and also confirmed that the machines with AMD chipset can finally upgrade to the latest preview builds.

Windows 10 Build 17040: Features, Improvements and Known Issues

Microsoft is introducing settings improvements, you can now adjust the brightness of SDR content on your HDR display. On the HDR system settings, you can find a slider under the Settings > System > Display > HDR and advanced color settings. With this preview release, Microsoft is also adding new cursor and pointer in the Ease of Access settings, options such as “change cursor thickness” and “Change pointer size and color” can now be accessed from the updated settings page.

The touch keyboard is finally getting the much-needed improvements, it has been updated with Shape-writing for one-hand mode on the wide keyboard. Microsoft is also updating the ‘insertion gesture’ feature, the company has replaced the caret with a small button to add space between words or letters.

The Windows 10 preview build also adds a new gesture to automatically commit your text and clear out the text in the handwriting panel. The gesture works at a 90-degree angle bracketing the end of your text. If you use Chinese Simplified handwriting keyboard, Microsoft has improved the button layout, you’ll now see that the buttons in the handwriting panel are collapsed by default.

The known issues in this build should not impact the overall user experience. It has a bug where functionality in Mail, Cortana could be missing or broken. The hardcore gamers should stay away from this build, as the games like League of Legends and NBA2k Online may cause 64-bit PCs to bugcheck (GSOD).

Another bug blocks the ability to receive notifications from Cortana. The reminders are however unaffected by this bug, although you may not able to sync the notifications between your smartphone through Cortana. You may also see an error “OneDrive cannot connect to Windows” in some machines with certain third-party antiviruses and OneDrive Files on Demand enabled.

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is an entrepreneur who founded Windows Latest. He is the Editor-in-Chief and has written on various topics in his seven years of career, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.