Microsoft Releases New Windows 10 Technical Preview OS with Project Spartan Browser to More Lumia phones

Sunday, 12 April 2015

PC software major, Microsoft has released a new version of Windows 10 Technical Preview OS to a few more Lumia smartphones.

"I'm VERY HAPPY to be able to get a build out to you today that has this and allows Windows 10 to be used across a larger set of phones. This is definitely not the final list of devices, and we're still hard at work to let people with other phones get hands-on with Windows 10 in the near future, including non-Lumia devices as well," said Gabe Aul, official Windows Blog moderator.

The new Windows 10 Technical Preview (build number: 10051) is said to support more Lumia smartphones and also brings in lots of new features, including the company's all new web-browser Project Spartan, refurbished mail, calendar, App Switcher, phone (contacts), messaging, Maps, People App, updated keyboard with period, comma and emoji keys on first page and fix bugs related Cortana icon resolution, Photo app, and Microsoft Band.

But, the new Microsoft browsing app, probably in need of more testing, has not been set as the default browser, instead it will exist as an alternative app option to the IE11 (Internet Explorer 11).

Here is list of Lumia Devices eligible for Windows 10 OS Technical Preview:

Lumia 1020
Lumia 1320
Lumia 1520
Lumia 520
Lumia 525
Lumia 526
Lumia 530
Lumia 530 Dual Sim
Lumia 535
Lumia 620
Lumia 625
Lumia 630
Lumia 630 Dual Sim
Lumia 635
Lumia 636
Lumia 638
Lumia 720
Lumia 730
Lumia 730 Dual SIM
Lumia 735
Lumia 810
Lumia 820
Lumia 822
Lumia 830
Lumia 920
Lumia 925
Lumia 928
Microsoft Lumia 430
Microsoft Lumia 435
Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM
Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM DTV
Microsoft Lumia 532
Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM
Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM
Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM

We like to remind readers that this not the final list, Microsoft is working at bringing the new OS to a lot more Lumia smartphones in coming days. We will update you with more details as it develops.

The company is also putting some extra hours on Lumia Icon, 930 and Lumia 640 XL, as they are facing some scaling issue, which is making UI on these devices too small to provide good user-experience.

"We need to add code to support new scaling thresholds for these devices. That work is underway, so we expect to see support for them in the near future. I know some of you will be disappointed, but trust me that you want us to make that fix before we send it out to you," said Aul.

Key features of Windows 10:

Full-size Background Image for Start: New option to customize wallpapers, the start screen will now have a full-fledged background image.
More Quick Actions in Action Center: Microsoft has increased quick-action option counts in the new OS. Windows Phone 8.1 has four programmable quick actions – but with Windows 10 you also get an expanded view that can now have up to three rows.
Interactive Notifications: Notifications are now interactive, allowing you to take action directly like dismissing an alarm, or seeing images for maps. For example, for text messages, when the toast pops, you can quickly reply inline via text or voice.
Significantly enhanced speech-to-text capability: You can talk to virtually any data field you choose. Your words show up as you speak them – and punctuation appears automatically. This feature is smart enough to understand when to use 'two' – the number — instead of 'too' as in 'also'.
More powerful Photos app: From your very first launch, Photos will show the aggregated set of all your local photos and all your OneDrive photos.