It's been a long time since HoloLens last received a major Windows 10 update. The last was in 2016 with the Anniversary Update, and hasn't received any feature updates since. Today, that all changes however, as Microsoft has finally released a preview build of Windows 10 Redstone 4 for HoloLens!
Installing Redstone 4 for HoloLens is a little different from normal Insider Preview builds. Instead of getting it through Windows Update, you have to manually flash a recovery file with the build via the Windows Device Recovery Tool. This is likely because there is no direct upgrade path from the Anniversary Update to Redstone 4.
This preview is available to all HoloLens users, however, please note that installing this preview will erase all of your content and restore your device to factory settings. Like any pre-release software, you may encounter bugs and other issues along the way. For this reason, Preview builds are made for people who know their way around HoloLens and don't mind frequent updates with significant changes.
Microsoft has detailed how to install the preview via the Windows Device Recovery Tool, which you can check out here.{.nofollow}
Regarding the update, here's what's new!
- Auto-placement of 2D and 3D Content on launch
- Fluid app animation
- 2D app horizontal resize with reflow
- Expanded voice command support
- Updated Holograms and Photos apps
- Improved mixed reality capture
- Improved audio immersion
- File Explorer
- MTP support
- Captive portal network support during setup
- Spatial mapping improvements
- Automatic selection of focus point based on depth buffer
- Holographic reprojection modes
- App tailoring APIs
- Use multiple AD user accounts on a single device
- Change Wi-Fi network on sign-in
- Unified enrolment
- Mail Sync without MDM enrolment
- New OS name when Commercial Suite features are enabled: "Windows Holographic for Business"
- Configurable setup
- Windows Configuration Designer
- Bulk AAD token support
- Developer CSP
- Assigned Access for Kiosk Mode
- OOBE diagnostics
- Local account indefinite password expiry
- MSM sync status and details
The build available for HoloLens is 17123, which is a fair bit older than the builds currently in testing with Insiders on desktop. It is likely that Microsoft will release more RS4 builds for HoloLens over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.
