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If there is one completely broken and painful process with Windows Phone 8.1 today it is the upgrade process, particularly those locked to carriers.  This is a sore subject for many Windows Phone users because it takes seemingly forever to get updates.  The latest Lumia Denim update is classic example.  AT&T took 10 weeks after it was released finally offered it on the Lumia 1520 while the Lumia 635 still hasn’t seen the update.  Verizon never released Lumia Cyan for the Lumia Icon (Lumia 93) and instead did a rollup with Denim just a few weeks ago.  Countless posts have been made on Windows centric sites on the subject and to say it is broken is, well, an understatement.  Microsoft has recognized this and is apparently trying to fix it in Windows 10 for Phone.  Under a project by the name of Project Milkyway, the company is outlining an update process that will take from 4-6 weeks from the time an update is announced to the time it hits your phone.  Interestingly, OEMs and carriers are still part of the process which has been a lot of the challenge.  I outlined a way I think Microsoft could bypass them entirely but appreciate it too has challenges.  While no specifics were given on how Microsoft would encourage them to speed things up, the Project Milkyway outline they presented today at WinHEC in China seems to be trying to change the current status quo with Windows 10 for Phone.

A feature that many of us have wanted has finally arrived.  Microsoft today has flipped the switch and you can now store your music within OneDrive and stream that music directly from any device.  The update means that you can have Xbox Music look in the new Music folder that is now in your OneDrive account and you can upload your music to that folder.  Once you do that and everything is synchronized, you can stream your music straight from OneDrive, eliminating the need for storing it locally.

There has been a lot of news about Windows 10 today from the WinHEC event in Shenzhen, China and this tidbit is really exciting for those of us who use touchpads and Windows tablets.  In Windows 10, Microsoft is concentrating efforts on improving the array of multi-touch gestures that you can use on touchpads and touchscreens to improve the user experience but also to give more controls at the touch of a finger – or set of fingers –  as the case may be.  This includes a relaxation of the requirements on how the touchpad and touchscreen digitizers should perform around all four edges of them.  These will allow you to do things like get to Cortana quickly or view multitasking options.

Microsoft has announced that a new build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview is coming to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring today.  The new Build 10041 comes 54 days after the first preview release and is being welcomed with glee as it addresses a lot of bugs and brings improved features and functionality over the original build, Build 9926.  Only those in the Windows Insider program will have access to it and only those in the Fast Ring will see it.  As a reminder, this is a beta of Windows 10 so it is far from complete despite Microsoft’s announcement today that we will see Windows 10 this summer.  If you are not willing and able to test the platform it is recommend you not join the Windows Insider program and download it.