If you're running an outdated preview of Windows 10, be warned that Microsoft is changing things with its Insider program to mean that such old builds won't work anymore – and in fact a machine using them won't boot at all.

In other words, those who think they can happily run a PC with an old preview version of the OS will be forced to update to the latest build, because after all, that's what the Insider scheme is all about – testing new changes Microsoft has just made, and letting the Windows team know how well they work (or how badly they are bugged). Not just freeloading a copy of Windows 10.

The changes to the way build expiration works were announced in a blog post detailing the release of preview build 14926 of Windows 10.

Escalating consequences

From today, those running old preview builds will get a nag notification telling them to upgrade to the newest offering. But the big changes come in October, when on the first of the month, PCs running such builds will be forcibly rebooted every three hours, as a very inconvenient reminder that you need to update.

And finally, in a month's time on October 15, these PCs will cease to boot completely. So you most definitely want to update before that happens.

To grab the latest build (14926), you need to head over to Windows Update (in Settings, Update & Security). This fresh build, incidentally, has an expiration date of May 1 next year.

As for the changes in this new build, they include one very welcome tweak – when Windows 10 goes through a major upgrade, it will no longer reinstall apps that you've uninstalled. That should have been in there from the get-go, mind you, but better late and all that.

Various tweaks have been made to Edge as well, including new extensions, and a 'snooze' action which lets you close a tab you've been keeping open to remind you to do something related to that site, and instead get Cortana to remind you about it.

Some known issues were also documented, including the fact that some integrated Windows 10 apps such as Calculator, Alarms & Clock, and Voice Recorder will no longer function with this build. To solve this, you'll need to head to the Windows Store and download then install these apps again.

Via: Digital Trends