Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14316 Brings Ubuntu Bash Shell And Android Desktop Notifications

The development community (and enthusiast) were shocked last week when Microsoft announced that it was bringing the Ubuntu Linux Bash shell to Windows 10, where it will run natively. Microsoft has wasted no time getting the functionality ready for testers, as the company has rolled out Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14316 with native Bash support baked right in.

To enable Bash, you have first have to enable Developer Mode, which can be accomplished by navigating to Settings --> Update & security --> For developers. From there, you’ll need to enable “Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta).” However, you’re still not done yet — you’ll next need to open up the Command prompt and type “bash”. Only then will you be able to harness the power of Bash.

But Bash isn’t the only new feature available in Build 14316; Microsoft has enabled some new cross-device functionality leveraging Cortana. Testers can now get low battery notifications from their smartphone that will appear on your Windows 10 desktop. In addition, a new Find My Phone/Ring My Phone feature has been added — you can simply call out to Cortana to inquire where your phone is while sitting in front of your Windows 10 PC. You’ll also be able to share map directions across all of your connected devices.

If should be noted that you’ll need a Windows Phone device to take advantage of these features, however, you can also join the fun if you’re running a support Android smartphone that has Cortana v1.5 or higher installed.

But those features are just the tip of the iceberg; there’s a whole laundry list of additional perks including new and updated Edge extensions, a new Skype UWP Preview app, improvements to the Action Center, new emojis, improvements to the Virtual Desktop experience, and updates to Windows 10 Battery Settings and the Battery Saver.

“Windows Insiders are the first to try out new innovations coming in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update by installing builds from our Development Branch,” said Gabe Aul, Microsoft Corporate VP for the Engineering Systems Team. “With today’s build, we have even more new features for Insiders to try and we will continue to deliver new features such as Windows Ink in future builds. So give this build a try and let us know what you think.”

Alright folks, you heard the man. Download Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14316 and start providing feedback via the newly updated Feedback Hub.