Microsoft’s Windows 10 Preview Build Misstep Exposes Revamped Control Center

Windows 10
Microsoft may have been looking forward to the weekend a bit too much, and got careless in the process. How so? The Redmond outfit accidentally pushed out an internal test build of Windows 10 (build 18947) to 32-bit machines in the Windows Insider program, and with it came a peek at a new Control Center that might be added at a later date.

According to a post on Reddit that called attention to the accidental rollout, it is a Canary build that was only meant for internal testing, which had been compiled less than a day ago. Microsoft said it is looking into how this happened, and in a Twitter post by its Windows Insider account, the company said that "all users must roll back" from the test build "in order to continue forward successfully."

Control Center in Windows 10

In the meantime, engineer and Microsoft MVP Rafael Rivera called attention to the Control Center on Twitter. You can see a screenshot of the Control Center above, and here it is in action...
This is enabled through a Registry edit, specifically:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Center\UseLiteLayout dword:1
The Registry edit only works in the leaked build, which Microsoft has since yanked offline. Nevertheless, we have our sneak peek. As Rafael demonstrates, it can be pulled up to expand a list of options and settings. Directly above that section, there is a place for Notifications.

Given the early state of things, this is probably a very rough draft. However, the fact that it exists is interesting. Could we be looking at a UI element of Windows 10 Lite? That is one possible scenario. Microsoft could also roll this out to Windows 10 users at large, with the release of its 20H1 update in the first half of next year.

Microsoft is also planning another feature update to Windows 10 later this year, dubbed 19H2. However, rumor has it that one will be a smaller update in the grand scheme of things, and be more like a Service Park roll out from the days of old.