Microsoft recently released a preview build for phones of Windows 10 Mobile (the Windows 10 OS version geared for mobile users) to Windows Insider testers. This latest build is called 1080 and functions on more Windows-run mobile devices, including the Lumia Icon, the Lumia 930, the Lumia 640/640XL phones, and even the HTC One (M8) for Windows smartphone. Previously, these devices were not able to run earlier preview builds of Windows 10 Mobile due to screen scaling concerns.
Microsoft has been busy lately rebranding the Windows Phone name into the more encompassing Windows 10 Mobile name. As part of this rebranding thrust, the company is also trying to realize its vision of making all of its products, software, and services platform-universal. In line with this, the latest preview build of Windows 10 Mobile now includes the new Office Universal apps for devices running on Windows. All of these apps will be made available via download through the Windows Store Beta today.
For those who are not familiar with the new Office Universal apps, these refer to the latest versions of the core Office apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote -- that have been enhanced for the Windows 10 environment. Microsoft had released a first preview build of these apps for Windows 10 Desktop (for PCs, laptops, and tablets) back in February earlier this year. These Office Universal apps are expected to replace the Office Mobile hub apps are currently present in mobile devices running on Windows.
Apart from the Office Universal apps, what else can users expect from the latest preview build of Windows 10 Mobile? Quite a handful, actually -- there is a new design for the soon-to-be-launched Windows Store, an Xbox app for smartphones running on Windows 10 Mobile, and a new Camera app for Windows 10 handsets. And of course, this latest preview build also comes with a few bug fixes.
As far as Windows 10 Mobile is concerned, Microsoft so far has rolled out a couple of preview builds for testing purposes. The last one was in April, and was the first to include the Microsoft Edge web browser, which at the time was codenamed as Spartan.
Microsoft has revealed that the the Windows 10 Mobile release will not happen at the same time as the Windows 10 Desktop release for PCs, laptops, and big tablets. However, Windows 10 Mobile will still be available in the later part of 2015 for devices that currently run on Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone.
