Windows 10 Preview Build 17618 (RS5), focusing mainly on Sets, released to #WindowsInsiders in Skip Ahead

While Microsoft is preparing the major update of Windows 10, targeting this Spring, the development team has already started working on the next feature branch Redstone 5 (RS5) and delivered the second build (17618) to insiders who opted for Skip Ahead.

The new build brings back the feature 'Sets' which allows users to group apps in a set of tabs. To know more about the features and fixes, check this post.

The first build (17604) from the Redstone 5 branch was released almost a month ago, on 14th February, to the insiders in the Fast Ring who opted for Skip Ahead. The insiders who are in fast ring but not in skip ahead, will start getting builds from this branch once Microsoft releases the final public build from RS4.

From the Redstone 5, the second build (17618) brings back Sets, a feature which allows users to group apps into tabs. Though the feature was earlier available to a limited number of Insiders in RS4, but now it is available to all, who are on Skip Ahead.

Sets is designed to make sure that everything related to your task: relevant webpages, research documents, necessary files, and applications, is connected and available to you in one click.

What's new in Windows 10 Insiders Preview Build 17618?

With the Windows Insiders Preview Build 17618, Microsoft added the following new improvements to Sets to bring the experience to the next level:

• Sets now supports desktop (Win32) apps, like: File Explorer, Notepad, Command Prompt and PowerShell.
• You can now launch apps from the new tab page by typing the app name into the search box.
• UWP apps are launched in the same window replacing the new tab page.
• The tab UI in Sets now shows icons including website favicons and app icons.
• When restoring your projects, you'll be prompted to restore related apps and webpages. In Timeline you'll see when a project has multiple activities associated with it.

The Microsoft Store may be completely broken or disappeared altogether after upgrading to this build. Please see this forum post for details including a workaround on how to get the Microsoft Store back.

Apart from the above new changes, Microsoft releases a long list of general changes, improvements and fixes for PC in Windows Insiders Preview Build 17618, which you can find in the original Release Notes. Make sure to read the Known Issues before upgrading to this build.