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Windows 10 testers get a second update

Microsoft delivers its second update in two months to the tech preview of Windows 10. Here's what's in it.

Mary Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She also is the cohost of the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network.
Mary Jo Foley
2 min read

Windows 10
Microsoft tweaked the user interface in its latest update to Windows 10. Rick Broida/CNET

Microsoft is keeping to its word and is continuing to deliver regular updates to the Windows 10 tech preview it launched on October 1.

On Wednesday, the company made available to those who've downloaded the preview Build 9879. This is the second update Microsoft has pushed to Technical Preview testers. The first was about three weeks ago, and was Build 9860.

With today's new update, Microsoft is tweaking the user interface a bit, allowing Windows 10 users to hide the Search and Task View buttons on the taskbar by right clicking on bar. Users also can pin items to the Home area of the File Explorer. The app settings menu on the top left has changed from three dots to the so-called "hamburger-style" button (as it looks something like a hamburger).

A number of these new features leaked over the past weekend. WinBeta had a good post summarizing the leaks.

Microsoft also provided in the new build a number of new touchpad gestures -- something officials said would be coming a couple of weeks ago during Tech Ed Barcelona -- in today's update. The Snap Assist feature to help with snapping apps across multiple monitors, also shown in Barcelona, is in the update, as well.

Native MKV file support, new ways to use OneDrive navigation and more are part of today's update, too.

Microsoft outlined the changes and how to get today's update in a Windows blog post.

Microsoft is expected to make a consumer preview of Windows 10 and a new preview for ARM- and Intel-based small tablets in early 2015, possibly January 2015.

This story originally posted as "Microsoft delivers second update to Windows 10 tech preview" on ZDNet.