Microsoft has released a new build of Windows 10 for desktop users, version 16176. This is the second build from the Redstone 3 branch and the company is also releasing a phone build today too, version 15204.

As with all builds, be cautious installing this software on your daily driver has it may have bugs that could be show-stoppers. But, if you do install the release and find something new that hasn’t been announced, make sure to let us know.

For desktop users, this build has a new feature for those who use the Linux subsystem; Windows COM ports are now accessible from the WSL process. Aside from this, that’s all that is officially new for the desktop.

For mobile users, there is a big change. Going forward, only the following phones will be supported in the Insider program:

• HP Elite x3
• Microsoft Lumia 550
• Microsoft Lumia 640/640XL
• Microsoft Lumia 650
• Microsoft Lumia 950/950 XL
• Alcatel IDOL 4S
• Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL
• SoftBank 503LV
• VAIO Phone Biz
• MouseComputer MADOSMA Q601
• Trinity NuAns NEO

This is a big shift for Microsoft has they are cutting off a significant number of devices from officially obtaining new builds of Windows 10. The company says that devices not on this list can still receive updates but that the updates will be unsupported meaning if you brick your phone, don’t ask Microsoft for help.

Also, the build numbers for Windows 10 Mobile are much lower than that of the desktop counterpart. Microsoft says that this is related to work on OneCore, but it does seem a bit odd that the previous builds had the same version number and now Mobile is far behind.

No matter how you slice it, this doesn’t fair well for Windows Phone loyalists. While the company is still technically building out new features and updates for the platform, it’s becoming harder and harder to support the platform as Microsoft continues to narrow its scope and remove users from the process.

You can read the announcement post, here.

Tagged with Redstone 3, Windows 10