Concurrently, Insider Preview Fast ring now up to build 14251, no immediately obvious changes Credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Microsoft has released KB 3124262, the latest Cumulative Update for Windows 10 version 1511. Microsoft says: This update includes improvements to enhance the functionality of Windows 10 Version 1511. That’s it. At the same time, Windows 10 Insiders in the Fast ring started receiving Preview 14251. Gabe Aul, on the Windows blog, says: Sharp-eyed Insiders likely noted the big jump in build numbers from our last preview build (11102). Historically, the codebase for mobile had a different OS version than the codebase for PC because they were developed by different teams on different schedules. With Windows 10, we became one Windows team and brought these two codebases together. We started by changing the version string displayed in the UI to be consistent, which is why you saw similarly labeled builds over the past year for both Mobile and PC, but the underlying binary version numbers were still different. As part of our work getting the common codebase ready for the next release, we decided to complete that work and sync the build numbers between mobile and PC. He also mentions that the “build doesn’t have notable new features in it,” although it fixes a whole bunch of bugs. I count eight Windows 10 version 1511 cumulative updates in the past 10 weeks: Version 1511 (OS Build 10586), released Nov. 12, is the first version 1511 — the one that raised the old RTM build 10240 version of Win10 to the November Update/Threshold 2 level Cumulative Update 1, KB 3105211, Nov. 10, build 10586.3 (yes, the first Cumulative Update was issued before build 10586 became the official version 1511) Cumulative Update 2, KB 3118754, Nov. 18, build 10586.11 Cumulative Update 3, KB 3120677, Nov. 24, build 10586.14 Cumulative Update 4, KB 3116908, Dec. 2, build 10586.17 Cumulative Update 5, KB 3116900, Dec. 8, build 10586.29 Cumulative Update 6, KB 3124200, Dec. 17, build 10586.36 Cumulative Update 7, KB 3124263, Jan. 12, build 10586.63 Cumulative Update 8, KB 3124262, Jan. 27, build 10586.71 If the past is any indication, chances are very good that neither update contains any noticeable changes — as advertised. Related content opinion On a personal note... Woody Leonhard looks back a bit, looks ahead to retirement — and shares good news about who's picking up the Windows patching torch. By Woody Leonhard Nov 09, 2020 3 mins Small and Medium Business Computers Windows news analysis Get Microsoft's October patches installed — and seriously consider Win10 2004 Odd ancillary patches have their problems, but the mainstream October patches look pretty reliable. The big question: Is Win10 version 2004 up to your stability standards. I’m skeptical -- especially because it has few worthwhile improvements. By Woody Leonhard Oct 30, 2020 6 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Computers news analysis Microsoft Patch Alert: October 2020 The big news with this month’s patches – aside from the usual smorgasbord of strange errors – has more to do with the patches that are outside the regular cumulative update stream. Remarkably, we didn’t get any security fixes By Woody Leonhard Oct 22, 2020 189 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Office Microsoft news analysis With Patch Tuesday here, be sure Windows Update is paused With all the flotsam floating around, it’s easy to lose sight of Second Tuesdays. October’s arrives tomorrow and, with it, another round of Windows and Office patches. Take a minute to make sure you aren’t in the front lines, as eve By Woody Leonhard Oct 12, 2020 5 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe