Windows 10 20H1 build 18990 now rolling out to Fast ring Insiders

What you need to know

• Windows 10 build 18990 is now available for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring.
• This build largely focuses on bug fixes, but there's a new setting related to automatically restarting UWP apps as well.
• Fast ring Insiders can grab build 18990 via Windows Update now.

Windows 10 20H1 build 18990 is now available for Fast ring Insiders. This update brings a couple of new features to the fore, but is mostly focused on bug fixes and performance improvements.

The most notable new feature is the ability to set UWP apps to automatically restart when signing back in to a PC. Microsoft rolled out this ability for registered desktop apps in a prior build, but it now works with UWP apps as well.

There are also some improvements to the Windows Subsystem for Linux and more. Here's a look at all of what's new and fixed in this build.

What's new in build 18990

Enabling automatic restart for UWP apps

• Last month, we introduced a new separate setting to control if registered desktop apps from your previous sign-in session are restarted when signing back in to Windows. In the latest Insider Preview builds, in addition to registered desktop apps, when you opt into this setting, the majority of open UWP apps are now also automatically restarted as well! To reduce sign-in time, UWP apps are restarted minimized, in a suspended state, giving Windows and other apps more resources to get started.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements

• Improved the performance for directory listings in \wsl$
• [WSL2] Injected additional boot entropy [Github Issue 4461]
• [WSL2] Fixed Windows interop when using su / sudo commands [Github issue 4465]

Xbox Game Bar Updates

• In case you hadn't seen, we're starting to roll out an FPS counter and achievement overlay! Thanks to everyone who shared feedback about this. The update will come via the Microsoft Store. Just set focus to your favorite game and press WIN + G to get started.

Reset your PC from the cloud

• Earlier today in our Windows Insider webcast, we had the Deployment Team as guests to talk about the new feature that is coming with 20H1 that allows you to reset your PC using the cloud. For more information, check out this article from Program Manager Aaron Lower. You can also watch the on-demand video of this morning's webcast by visiting our Mixer channel!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

• We fixed an issue where right-clicking on File Explorer's search box didn't bring up a context menu that could be used to paste clipboard contents.
• We've updated the default width of the search box in File Explorer to be a little bigger.
• We fixed an issue impacting Action Center reliability.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the credentials prompt sometimes not appearing when connecting to certain VPNs from the network flyout, so it said Connecting but never completed the connection.
• We fixed Magnifier bugs at different DPI levels.
• We fixed an issue where Magnifier UI wasn't closing with Alt + F4 keyboard shortcut.
• We fixed an issue where sometimes Magnifier window became completely black after switching from lens mode to dock mode.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Magnifier not working when using the Russian display language.
• We have made it clearer how "Read from here" works in Magnifier.
• We improved legibility of Magnifier reading highlighting rectangle.
• We improved reading while in Lens mode.
• We fixed an issue where text cursor indicator sometimes did not appear, even though the setting was enabled.
• We made the text cursor shapes more legible and aesthetic.
• We fixed an issue in Narrator where changing the speech rate with the keyboard commands would speak the new rate using the old rate.
• We fixed Narrator's whitespace sound.
• We improved Narrator's automatic dialog reading experience.
• Table navigation hotkeys are now allowed when entering a list view to allow one to navigate across columns while using Narrator.
• We improved the Narrator's Page Summary dialog by allowing tab and shift-tab to loop around the dialog controls.
• Narrator will no longer announce notifications from non-focused Chrome webpages.
• Narrator now announces the current value of the "thumb" in legacy color picker controls.
• Narrator is now presenting links and play buttons correctly in iTunes.
• We improved Narrator's reading experience in Chrome and Firefox. Certain pages could cause Narrator to loop back up to previous content.
• Narrator is now updating an attached braille display correctly when some XAML controls are expanded.
• Thank you to everyone who shared feedback about the design of the input mode switcher on the taskbar for the Simplified and Traditional Chinese IMEs. We've adjusted the design based on your feedback that the icon glyph was large and blurry.
• We fixed an issue where some Chinese characters in the Common Standard Chinese Characters dictionary couldn't be input with the new version of the Simplified Chinese IME.
• We fixed an issue where, when switching to English input mode and back to Chinese input mode, the punctuations would become Chinese punctuations, even if "Use English punctuations when in Chinese input mode" was enabled with the new version of Simplified Chinese IME.
• We fixed an issue where the new version of Simplified Chinese IME candidate window would sometimes not appear.
• We fixed an issue where the new version of the Traditional Chinese Bopomofo IME didn't show candidates or next phrase candidates on touch keyboard.
• We fixed an issue where characters typed with the new version of Chinese Traditional IMEs weren't committed by Enter key when using certain games.
• We fixed an issue where the legacy language bar didn't show IME mode icons while using the new version of Japanese IME, Chinese Traditional IME, or Korean IME.
• We fixed an issue where the new version of Japanese IME wouldn't reconvert a word pasted from somewhere else by Henkan key.

Windows Insiders on the Fast ring can grab this update now via Windows Update. For more on this build, including a look at the known issues, you can check out Microsoft's full release notes at the Windows Blog.