'Optional' is the new 'Full' in Windows 10: Microsoft mucks about with diagnostic slurpage levels for Fast Ring Insiders

Having fixed the mystery blocking bug of last week, Microsoft dropped a fresh Fast Ring build of Windows 10 and announced plans to clear the waters of the privacy pond by fiddling with the names given to diagnostic data slurpage.

Windows Insiders hopeful to catch a glimpse of an exciting new Start Menu in build 19577 or maybe some thrilling new features were to be disappointed.

Unless, of course, they get turned on by an icon or two. New icons for built-in (non-store) apps were the order of the day with the shield representing Windows Security getting a lick of paint from the Microsoft Design Team.

The gang is also continuing the "experiment" of not automatically downloading and installing drivers categorised as "optional". Users must install the things manually instead. The extension will see the trial continue until the end of this month.

More interesting are tweaks being made to the slurpage done in the name of Diagnostic Data. At present, there are four levels of diagnostic data – Security, Basic, Enhanced and Full – although what the end user actually sees depends on options including policy settings and if the PC is controlled by an enterprise.

For example, our sacrificial Windows 10 Insider PC currently features "Basic" or "Full". The latter is maximum slurp and includes information about websites browsed, how apps are used and includes "enhanced error reporting".

If you want access to preview versions of Windows 10, Microsoft wants access to all the diagnostic data it can get its hands on. Hence getting Insider builds required a setting of "Enhanced" or "Full".

Going forward, the "Enhanced" option is to be removed, with only "Security", "Basic" and "Full" left behind. Any device previously set to "Enhanced" will be dropped back to "Basic." This is all well and good, except it will turn off the Insider taps. The level names will also get a rename from their snappy single-word titles to the lengthier "Diagnostic Data Off", "Required Diagnostic Data" and "Optional Diagnostic Data".

Naturally, "Optional" in this case means "Full" in the old world. We're sure this won't lead to any confusion. And you (or your administrator) will need to make sure that the slurpage setting is "Optional" to ensure those Insider builds keep flowing if "Enhanced" was previously your thing.

Other than the glimpse into the future of Privacy settings, the new build contains a variety of fixes including Windows Update crashes and SafeSearch settings were being lost following an upgrade. The usual issues with crashes during the update process and a broken cloud recovery option for Reset this PC persist as well as a new one that sees the corruption repair process hang at 84.9 per cent.

Lies, damn lies and progress indicators indeed. ®