OK, then. It was supposed to be easy. For both Beta Channnel (Build 19043.962) and Release Preview (19042.962) recent CUs are supposed to include News & Interests, too. (See the lead-in graphic for the release announcement blog post.) As I reported here last Friday, all Dev Channel Insiders who installed Build 21359 were finally on equal footing for this nifty notification bar widget. But alas, it seems that News & Information Insider follies continue. In other words, I updated to these latest versions but see no sign of N&I on either Taskbar. Sigh.
To What End Do News & Information Insider Follies Continue?
No good end, I suppose. But it’s not like I haven’t seen this before. And it’s not just me, either: I see other Insiders reporting similar experiences in the WIMVP Yammer forums and on Feedback Hub. Obviously, there’s something interesting going on here. I’m not sure if it’s pervasive or spotty, but at least it’s widespread enough that others have noticed the same thing I did.
Gosh, though: I’m a little disappointed. I’d been getting ready to start messing with the manage interests controls in Edge. The My Interests page, Discover Interests settings govern what shows up in the supporting News & Interests detail. I’d hoped to do some tweaking on my Beta Channel and Release Preview test machines.
Hoping for Response or Help Soon!
Given that the Insider Team is already aware of this issue, I’m guessing it will be addressed soon. Whether it’s in a forthcoming CU or quality update sometime remains TBD.
All I can say at this point is that N&I has proved a great deal more interesting to install and use than I’d expected it to be. I’m wondering if its Edge tie-in isn’t somehow connected to its MIA status. When I saw I needed to update Edge to Version 90.0.818.42 this morning, I was half-way convinced this would make N&I visible. But alas, the pessimistic half of that sentiment proved true.
Stay tuned! I’ll update this post when a fix, or some other official response, appears. And today, that’s how things go in Windows World.
Note Added April 21 (1 Day After Original Post)
In response to my inquiry to the Insider Team, I got a tweet back that reads “It’s slowly rolling out for those builds. Appreciate your patience. :)” Now we know that it should show up on all 19042 and 19043 (Release Preview and Beta Channel builds, respectively) sometime soon, but not just yet. Better to know, than to wonder fruitlessly!
My Insider contact clarified further that “rolling out” means a gradual, incremental release, not an all-at-once available-to-everybody release. Helps to understand the terminology, right? Now I know, and hopefully you do too (if you didn’t know already).
