December has been an interesting month on the Windows Insider Program. Earlier in the month, Microsoft was forced to suspend Windows 10 previews on PC. However, that was made up for with a massive preview release two weeks ago (Windows 10 Preview Build 14986). Microsoft pointed out that will be the last new Insider build of the year.
However, Insiders do now have to wait until next month as Windows 10 preview build 14997 has leaked online. BetaArchive has found the build, which comes from Microsoft’s internal Development Branch with the name “rs_onecore_base”.
Windows Central points out that Build 14997 comes with a number of new features. Among them is an improved Settings applications and the ability to download themes from the Windows Store. Last week, the first themes arrived on the Store and could be downloaded. However, they needed to be installed manually. Build 14997 will install the themes directly.
Microsoft Edge is also a focus of the upcoming release. For example, tabs are expanded in the web browser.
Windows 10 14997 Leak
As mentioned this is a leaked version of a Windows 10 build. If you install this, it should be with full acceptance of potential risks. This is still an internal build, which means much of the release could be unstable and cause problems. Indeed, Microsoft said it was halting new Insider builds to avoid giving users an unstable experience over the holidays.
Considering that, it may be worth holding off for a few more days until 2017 opens and Microsoft resumes sending out builds to the Windows Insider Program.
If you do take the plunge and download build 14997, let us know in the comments below how it is running.
