Arrow S04E01: "Green Arrow"

Arrow

S04E01: "Green Arrow"

Rating: 5 out of 10 (OK)

In A Nutshell

Things start off as if we're watching a reality TV show, with some cheesy stuff as Oliver and Felicity "enjoy" their loved up life in normality. It's hard to watch, but at least we know we're not going to get a season of this. Sure enough, the gang back home turn up as they've encountered bad guys that they can't deal with, which beggars the question, did they think it would be simple bank robberies for the rest of their lives? Seems so. Anyhow, Oliver and co head back, and sure as sure, by the end of the episode he's back as the "star" of the show, but this time as "The Green Arrow". Makes sense. He has after all completely worn a green shade of some sort for three seasons!

The new bad guy doesn't initially sound as exciting as last season, but at least Damien Dark has the same charisma and stage presence as Ra al Ghul. Let's just hope the storyline lives up to any promise, as it's unclear from episode one what Damien wants, whereas we all knew where Ra al Ghul was going from day one. Still, he's a chirpy badass personality and pleasant to watch, and although he has little screentime this week he does however make an imprint.

Quentin Lance is still doing his grumpy impressions. Laurel seems to have inherited that gene, although she's still just as much a secondary interest as is Thea. All characters seem to have kept last season's stupidity in their actions, with everyone strangely either clueless to Thea's aggressiveness in combat and forgetting that "reborn in dodgy pool" scene from last season.

From being unpredictable and progressive, Arrow is now about as predictable as these kind of shows can get, with scenes and dialogue inserted so forcibly for us to digest that it's hard to get down without plenty of drink or metaphorical make believe salt. Diggle's grudge with Oliver feels so last season. We have to endure all the pep-talk and stupidity of it all.

The flashbacks so far might have potential but this week they were just like last season; pointless and dull. Not just that, but ridiculous. Oliver surviving falling on electricity cables and parachuting after being kicked in the head? Just too unbelievable even for fictional superhero shows. His comments in the present about "seeing" such people as Damien Dark before might mean the flashbacks take that sub-plot on. Quite how he can be sure Damien isn't a metahuman though at one glance takes more swallowing.

Things end a little intriguingly, what with Damien of course not being caught that easily, Quentin Lance in some sort of pact with the bad guy, and a scene with Oliver and Barry Allen at a graveyard. Seems someone is going to "get it" this season.

What I liked

Damien Dark has some stage presence, charisma, and signs of real threat.

The new Green Arrow suit looks cool.

What I Didn't Like

The standing in committee for the Mayor's Office are all taken out, with the only one who was saved being ... Quentin Lance! It really needed someone from the main cast to suffer a loss but they really managed to stuff that up once again, although as it happens, we later discover why. Still, it doesn't hide the fact that there doesn't seem to be any real peril for our main cast or consequences.

Flashbacks still quite underwhelming and somewhat hard to believe. Oliver falls off roof onto electric cables and is ok? Then gets drugged. Wakes up from being drugged on plane and gets ordered off at gunpoint? He doesn't try to fight back. Ok, so he's just woken up, but he gets his act together quite quickly, and then gets kicked in the head off the plane and yet parachutes down ok? There's just too much stupidity in plot work here to even begin to enjoy anything.

Boring lady Amanda Waller is back again. She's just bossy, obnoxious and really dull.

Laurel Lance and kid in station; not only is she quite a dull character, but that scene with the child was cringey.

Blowing up the train outside of the station ... but it's still in the city right? Isn't it a little dangerous and how do they know for sure that no one else was on the train?
Huh?

These powers would be useful at the dinner table 

Drugged. Woken up. Kicked in the head. Parachutes out plane ok. Sure, nothing ridiculous about any of this.

Diggle? Quentin? It's got to be one of those two. Sadly, the show could have done with a shock this week, not in 6 months.

And Finally

I started with optimism, but by the end of the episode I had the same sick stabbing dullness that filled my stomach during series 3. There's promise with the new bad guy, Damien Dark, and perhaps some twisting morals with Quentin Lance in league with him, but the same ridiculous interactions and disbelieving plot work still make it hard to care anywhere near as much as we did back in Season 1 and 2.

Rating: 5 out of 10

The Flash: S02E02: "Flash of Two Worlds"

The Flash

S02E02: "Flash of Two Worlds"

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Decent)

In A Nutshell

When all is said and done, nothing much of any great action happened this week, hence why I've not been inclined to give a higher rating, although what did happen was nevertheless fascinating.

Jason 'Jay' Garrick, aka Earth 2 Flash, explains more about what's really been going on the last 6 months since that singularity. He explains how he was about to snuff it from his arch nemesis, Zoom, when the singularity opened up and he's been on our earth every since, but without his speed. Barry doesn't trust him, especially given how similar he is to Doctor Wells, with his guidance for Barry and his science background. Most of the episode he's locked up and having experiments conducted on him by Barry's very trusting friends, before a classic heart to heart between Barry and Iris (who has done naff all this season thus far) convinces him to let "Jay" help him defeat the newest metahuman to be put on our Earth via Zoom, a sand monster of sorts. Jay helps Barry learn how to create a lightning bolt to take down the man of sand, and thus turn him into glass. The two team up in a great sequence where Flash 2, minus speed, and Barry combine to rescue a police officer (Newcomer Patty Spivot) used as a prisoner by the sand metahuman and destroy him.

The police officer in question, is Patty Spivot, who after much enthusiastic nagging to Joe, eventually becomes the newest member of his anti-metahuman task force. We find out that Cisco has some sort of psychic ability that he wants the Professor to keep to himself. And we catch a glimpse of Earth 2, and see none other than Doctor Wells in charge of it's star lab!
What I liked

History of Earth 2 Flash was really cool. The other world scenario was great in Fringe TV show, and it's well played in this show too.

The two flashes combine to take down metahuman, although Flash 2 is without powers.

The reveal that Zoom is Doctor Wells, although I sort of figured that one out.

Nice to see that at least someone, Barry, didn't just trust someone who walked into the building.

What I Didn't Like

Not sure how the Patty thing will go. As enthusiastic as she was, she was sort of annoying to put up with.

Not enough action and battle by far. This was pushed to the background to give more time to Flash 2 gradually "getting over" with Barry.

Despite all the two worlds chat, Joe still goes after their earth's version of the meta-human, who of course isn't a meta-human in this world. That was just daft. Especially when the earth 2 version turned up just after they released our earth's version.

Cisco psychic stuff; not sure where this goes because he could just use this "power" all the time and there's no need for anyone to do anything else! It needs to be very limited in it's use.

Professor suddenly collapsing near end. A surprise but so quick it was hard to work out if we should be worried or not?
Huh?

The equations make no sense and neither did what the professor and cisco said in this scene. Not sure we needed to hear any of that.



She's enthusiastic but Patty perhaps she need to learn that most metahumans aren't going to go down via bullets.

Told you he'd be back. Next up on my predictions list; Eddie. He'll turn up this season.

And Finally

This was largely all about learning more about Flash 2, and trusting him, with several other smaller subplots stuck in. It was enjoyable and interesting, but certainly not your typical episode where everything builds up to a climax.

Rating: 6 out of 10

The Last Kingdom: Episode 1

The Last Kingdom
Episode 1
Rating: 5 out of 10

In A Nutshell

I was heavily drawn to this show due to my love of the History Channel's "Vikings" show which we've had 3 seasons of thus far, and returns for a fourth soon. Can the BBC match the blood, violence and atmosphere of that show?

Yup, for the most part they have. CGI is used to good effect, without looking too ridiculous. Costumes and scenery are absolutely top-notch; equal to Game of Thrones and Vikings. The violence is slightly toned down though, with battles not getting too gruesome and any true sex, nudity or blood kept to a minimum in episode one, stopping just short of getting too gruesome.

The opening episode is all about setting the scene and story for the next seven episodes, and thus it skips along at such a pace to cover almost 30 years in 58 minutes. This chronological sprint only barely manages to work in this episode, before it really goes a little pear shaped in the last five minutes.

So, the show starts with young Uhtred at some community near York witnessing the Vikings coming ashore just down the coast. Everyone pegs it back to their wooden fortress and Lord Uhtred (his dad) sending some spies to keep a lookout but not to confront the Vikings. Of course, you just knew that the fact the Uhtred Senior made that implicit remark would mean it'll go wrong. Indeed, back came the spy in head form, when the vikings deliver what's left of him to the front gates of the fortress and leave. They are like a really bad courier with the way they just discard the head. Shaken, Uhtred Senior decides to take an army of 30 men or so (seems to be much more later strangely) and makes Uhtred Junior the new Lord in waiting of their community. Seems the spy was his older son. Uhtred junior is dismayed when later he discovers his dad and men have left without him and goes after them on his own in a rather comical manner, grabbing armour and sword, and a horse. As his dad's army get cornered and massacred by the vikings in a rather deadly assault (which goes on for five minutes but it feels like we don't see a lot of), Uhtred junior arrives too late. Somehow though, he's got behind enemy lines and a clear charge on the viking leader, Earl Ragnor (yes, probably the same one as in the other TV series). Ragnor senior (as he has a son of same name) mocks Uhtred junior but takes him prisoner, along with a few other women and men. In a viking hall nearby (that was created quickly!) they torture and do various other things to the prisoners which we also don't see much of. Uhtred junior instead is looked after by a blind elder viking.

Skip a few weeks and we have Uhtred the boy playing with other children, which goes a little bad when one of the boys assaults one of the girls. Ragnor senior isn't happy about this, banishes that family from his land, and takes out one of the boy's eyes! Eeek. Ragnor senior really starts to grow fond of Uhtred the boy, who isn't really bothered about being with the vikings as there wasn't much love back home for him from his dad and his mum, who it seems wasn't really his mum. Don't know. Didn't get much explanation there. Anyhow, the father of the boy now with one eye goes back to Uhtred's wooden fortress home and tells Uhtred's uncle that his nephew is alive and could be ransomed for. We then get a ransom situation in the forest with the current Lord trying to buy back Uhtred. A priest who came to the ransom quietly warns Uhtred not to return and that his uncle would only kill him in order to rule the land. As the ransom is going nowhere due to a mismatch in price, for some reason, Ragnor Senior buys Uhtred instead from the other Viking, Ubba, whom he had a 50% share of the boy with. The ransom is over and Ragnor declares Uhtred as much of a son as his own son, Ragnor Junior. ooookkkkkkk. Sort of "get that" but the way it's done during the ransom is just odd.

Skip twenty odd years now and we have a 20-something Uhtred and another young lady who was a former prisoner of the vikings, Brida, getting all loved up, whilst living with Ragnor and his gang. But, as they are recovering from some sex in the woods (which we don't see), they just so happen to see the one-eyed boy's father and the boy himself, now a young man of course, heading for Ragnor senior's hall. They quietly trap Ragnor in the hall and set fire to it, killing everyone that tried to escape. It's quite a dramatic fire indeed. Ragnor himself escapes at the end in a ball of fire and fights his attackers until he succumbs to the flames. The one-eyed man has taken only one prisoner from Ragnor's Hall, the same girl he assaulted as a child.

Uhtred gains some sort of revenge by sneaking into the wreckage of the hall and murdering (quietly) one of the people he recognises as a traitor and collaborator with his Uncle back home. Don't quite get the connection, but let's face it, it matters not really. Ragnor's attackers try but fail to find Ragnor's gold, but alas Uhtred and Brida know where it is and make off with it. BUT, not before they decide what to do next. Despite being initially abducted by the vikings, having no love for his real family, enjoying his time with Ragnor senior and wanting revenge on Ragnor's attackers, Uhtred declares that he's going home to reclaim what's his. Yeah, I don't quite get that myself. I sort of understand it but it's very weakly explained why he decided on this emotional turn. Anyhow, as that's essentially supposedly the outline of the whole series, it's no surprise he decides this, but given he's been treated well by the Vikings, it's hard to fathom why he would now be heading home. Possibly I've missed something here.

What I liked

Great scenery, atmosphere, costumes and use of CGI. As good as any top-quality show.

Battles; well, we did have one for a few minutes, and it was well produced as a display of tactics and maneuvers but far too brief.

Vikings are a good laugh, with their customs and behaviour. The English in comparison really do feel lightweight and rather brain dead.

What I Didn't Like
.
Episode skips along at times in terms of time. There's the obvious 20 odd year skip, and less so obvious smaller skipping of time. It mostly works but still doesn't feel all that natural.

Doesn't feel right with everyone communicating in English and not sounding even slightly like it's ye olde English.

Lovely costumes but some look all too rather clean and tidy at times.

There's some really basic and dull conversations in this episode and some rather bizarre changes of emotional pace, from young Uhtred laughing one moment when the Vikings were on their way. Young Uhtred was highly difficult to work out exactly how he felt about anything, saying he didn't like his dad one moment and then looking sad the next. His Uncle is even more odd to work out.

Rather basic storytelling.

Huh?

It's not hard to see why "we" lost battles when we look like we're wearing fancy dress costumes.

... And so do we. This comedy moment, in all the wrong ways, just sums up sums up some of weak storytelling in this episode.

Uhtred, the now grown up one, returns home with Ragnor's head to show his Uncle. Doesn't look too burnt does Ragnor?

And Finally

It's an ok start. Big in scenery, atmosphere and costumes, but weak in storytelling and any truly engaging characters. 

I'll forgive the skipping of time chronologically as this is supposedly setting the scene for the rest of the show. I can't forgive the rather weak dialogues and gravity behind all the non-Viking characters. 

Uhtred's decision making at the end was rather hard to completely fathom out but I hope for more clarity in episode two and possible a clearer idea of if he's planning to stay Viking or English.

Rating: 5 out of 10 (OK - average with hardly any memorable bits)

Windows 10 App Update: Mail & Calendar App: 17.6319.42021.0

Windows 10 App Update

Mail & Calendar App

Version 17.6319.42021.0 ~ 22nd October 2015

Purely concentrating on the mail side of the app ...

WHAT'S NEW?

Light/Dark Theme extends into Settings Pane

Not the most exciting change, and not even one I noticed was an issue, but now when you choose the dark theme, the settings pane will also be dark too.

Personalisation Preview

When you go to personalise the app colours, there's now a little graphic at top of settings pane that shows you how your colour choice affects the look of the app. Nice ... for mobile users perhaps, because on the PC you can see how the colour changes by just looking at the rest of the screen to the left which will show the mail app! Duh.

Pop-Out Email

You can now "pop-out" a new email or any email into a new window. Hold the front page, huh? Yeah, it's not that exciting but I'm sure some will like this.

Every email now has the pop-out icon near the far top right as shown below ...

This does exactly what it says. A separate window for that email. There seems to be no limit on number of emails you can pop-out.

Call Security! Because it's gone.

I'd missed this, and it could have happened a few updates ago, but the extra security settings we got a month ago ... have gone!

There was at one point Digital Signature and Encryption options under Options for each account, down the very bottom ...

What's Not Changed

Still ...

• No combined mailbox view.
• Syncing issues
• No sub-folder update option
• Conservation view is ON BY DEFAULT after update

The Flash: S02E01: "Man who saved Central City"

The Flash
S02E01: "Man who saved Central City"
Rating: 6

In A Nutshell

It's not been ages between seasons, but it certainly doesn't feel like just last week that The Flash was last on. Either way, even with my poor memory I could remember what happened roughly last series, so the recap was thankfully brief. After that cliffhanger of a singularity opening above the city, everything this week starts off very quiet and peaceful ... yes, they've skipped along six months (don't recall any caption) but it's made very obvious. Barry is going it alone and doesn't want anyone's help to combat crime. Cisco in working in the police department like some sort of whizzkid janitor. Iris is looking incredibly cheery despite Eddie's demise. I know it's months later but still, we're really skipping over her grief which would have been quite interesting to have lived through on screen.

Through a couple flashbacks we see The Flash and Firestorm stop the singularity, although we end up without Ronnie, as just Professor Stein returns with The Flash. Oh Well. Ronnie will return I'm sure. That guy just keeps coming back and going, and coming back. Sadly though he's rather a dull character outside of the superhero stuff.

So, six months has passed and it's the day before Flash Day, when Flash is getting presented with the key to the city. Barry's not sure he wants to turn up for event, but some prep talk turns him round. Sure as sure, an attack occurs as he's about to get the key thanks to some super strength and semi fast guy. Coincidentally, he looks exactly the same as a person they found dead earlier in the day at a building site, but alas, the body is still in the morgue. Flash comes off second best and, despite a get-together team-up to support Barry after yet more prep talking, he comes off second best once again.

In the interim, Barry receives a USB stick of Dr Well's video msg to Barry. He's already inherited the lab it seems from Dr Wells. He's no intention of viewing the message but when he goes to chat to Caitlin, the USB stick is with him and she convinces him to watch it. In the video Wells admits to killing Barry's mum, and thus Barry's dad is freed. However, his dad is not going to hang around. Just when you thought he might be a series regular, he's off again, choosing to keep his distance in order to help Barry do his job. Sort of makes sense, but then there are other people close to Barry that would be equally as problematic in the heat of the action.

Back to the main story, and they track down the bad guy, named "Atom Smasher" and trick him into following The Flash to a nuclear power plant, where he gets severely radiated to near death. His final words reveal he was put up to it by someone called "Zoom". As everyone gets all chummy at the end and ready to keep up the good fight against crime, an intruder appears and tells them that "their" world is in danger.

What I liked

Things zipped along at just the right pace, although they did sort of move past some of the season one emotional fallout.

Everyone will be glad that Barry's dad is finally released!

The usual enjoyable mix of characters is very good. The Professor as a regular isn't anywhere near as good as Eddie but he's likeable.

What I Didn't Like

Six Months Later: Programmes that skip along time periods never go down very well with me. They sometimes work, and in this episode it was quite nicely played, although it did make things skip by rather non-spectacularly perhaps, but at least there wasn't much to fill in ... aside from that singularity ... which brings me on to ...

... that singularity. We got a flashback to them fixing the singularity, which was solved so quickly, although at a human cost, that it lacked any real gravity of peril. Sure, buildings and people were being ripped up, but we saw this singularity appear so briefly at end of last season, that with it's limited time this episode, it all feels like a "flash in the pan" when we know (if you've seen the trailer for season 2) that the singularity has big consequences for the show.

It's not until next episode that this becomes an issue I expect, but this show is about to go all "Fringe" on us, which is good and bad, but I'm thinking mostly good.

Gideon! Hello? Every has forgotten the super tech AI in the lab! It gets a mention but one would think that AI would be being used all the time to see what's about to happen!

Said it last series and I'll say it again; Odds are we haven't seen the last of Dr Wells or Eddie. Admittedly we saw Wells in the video but I meant in person. Eddie I'm sure as sure will return. Ronnie probably also, although he's VERY boring.

Huh?

Flash Bang Wallop; the singularity was fixed rather quickly.

So, Barry drops the USB Stick beside Caitlin, but didn't he earlier ...

... yes, he dropped it on the desk, discarding it with no interest of ever using it. So why did he have it with him later?

Welcome back Mr Allen! The party soon changes from a welcome home, to a leaving party though.

I come in peace and you're in danger. The cliffhanger.

And Finally

A decent opener that skips over what's happened in the last six months rather quickly. Perhaps that's because there's nothing much of note, but I do think we've missed out on some compelling emotional time with the cast. Although, what's coming up looks like "fun" ...

Rating: 6 out of 10

Windows 10 Microsoft Messaging App: Top 5 Most Annoying Issues

Windows 10 App

Messaging App

Top 5 Most Annoying Issues - Grr

It's hard to know where to start with the new messaging app(s) for Windows 10, because I was annoyed at them before I even installed them.

Remember, these are betas essentially. They are in development, just like the whole Windows 10 OS. 

Just looking at them reminds you of walking into a room that's being decorated, with wallpaper hanging off the wall, other parts of the room bare, paint tins dotted about and just a dearth of anything meaningful.

There are two apps to Microsoft Messaging; the messaging app and the skype video app. There's actually a third, but I've not got to see that yet as that's on the insider build only.

1. They look uninteresting (and they are)

I'd started a couple conversations in the messaging app below, but just look at that layout ...

It's like trying to use skype whilst walking through a dense layer of fog. It's uninspiring and pretty unintuitive of what you're actually supposed to do.

At times like this, Windows 10 feels like Windows Basic when it comes to app design.

The skype video app is slightly more appealing. Nice pixelling video on right, with a better layout on left, although in the video app the menus are up the top, whereas they are down the bottom in the messaging app :/

2. Buggy

One doesn't mean a vehicle, but there are aspects of the app that just don't work, with the worst I've noticed being searching conversations in the messaging app which will actually do a search but you'll end up stuck on the same screen with no back arrow working or esc key taking you back to main screen. You have to close app and load it back up again.

3. Chat Initiating

To start a conversation, you have to type the name of the person you want to chat to in the messaging app into the top textbox. I guess this will be good if this was just SMS, but for skype I often only send messages to someone who is actually online, so I don't want to be searching through my contacts list when I start a chat but choosing the right person from a list of online people. Sadly, you can't do that in this app ... yet.

4. Is this really skype?

There's no indication that because I've loaded the app that I'm now online in skype. I assume I am but I've no idea. Am I still online even with app not open? Dunno. I don't even know if anyone I'm wanting to chat to is online or not. There's no way of knowing in this app, unless the person you message responds.

There's also no obvious tie-in to one's existing skype account, with the contacts it lists coming from your outlook/hotmail list in the "People" app. So, there's no bringing chat or contact history from skype into these new apps, which just makes them all less appealing. I'm sure they'll improve this though.

5. Feedback

Do they want feedback? Click the link and it loads the feedback app but that's it. Doesn't even take you to the app sub category. Nor is there a sub-sub category under apps for Messaging. That's just lame.

Windows 10 v1511 System Apps: History of Updates

Here's a comprehensive list of updates to my Windows 10 v1511 PC system apps since this version of Windows 10 was installed on my PC on 14th November 2015.

Statistics on System App Updates per Month can be found here

Note:

• "What's Changed, if known" information comes from either what I've noticed (black), what the store lists as what's new (blue) or via the app itself (red).
• Windows Store "What's New" change-log information doesn't often get updated with each update, thus I wouldn't trust them to be up-to-date as you read them in the store.
• The Date is in UK format, and is not necessarily reflective of the date the version was released as I'm not on my computer every day of the week.
• These are only updates to Windows System Apps via the Windows Store.
• These are only updates to the PC version of Windows 10 v1511.
• In v1511 there are 29 Windows System Apps, which are 3D Builder, Alarms and Clocks, Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Contact Support, Films & TV, Get Skype, Get Office, Get Started, Groove Music, Mail, Maps, Messaging, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Microsoft Wi-Fi, Money, News, OneNote, People, Phone, Phone Companion, Photos, Sport, Store, Sway, Voice Recorder, Weather & Xbox

List Updated 27th July 2016. 

Count thus far is that there's been 315 system app updates since 23rd August 2015.

App	Date	Version	What’s Changed, if known
OneNote	27/07/16	17.7167.57761.0
OneNote	23/07/16	17.7167.57731.0
Voice Recorder	23/07/16	10.1607.1891.0
Get Started	23/07/16	4.0.9.0
Phone Companion	23/07/16	10.1607.1991.0
People	23/07/16	10.0.11902.0
Alarms & Clock	23/07/16	10.1607.1991.0
Films & TV	23/07/16	3.6.2251
OneNote	21/07/16	17.7167.57651.0
3D Builder	21/07/16	11.1.9.0
Mail & Calendar	21/07/16	17.6965.41051.0
Film & TV	16/07/16	3.6.2250	Minor fixes & improvements.
Groove Music	15/07/16	3.6.2304	New personalization & discovery features.
Camera	15/07/16	2014.404.190.0	Bug Fixes User Experience Improvements
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	15/07/16	3.11.7081.0
OneNote	09/07/16	17.7070.58021.0
Sway	09/07/16	17.7167.45121.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	09/07/16	3.10.6302.0
News	02/07/16	4.11.156.0	Live coverage of breaking news events. Personalized news experience. Guided tour of personalization options on 1st launch. Continuous scrolling from article to article. Accessibility improvements. Reliability & performance improvements.
Money	02/07/16	4.11.156.0	Improved interactive charts with three new types (candlestick volume and OHLC). Guided tour of personalization options on 1st launch.
Weather	02/07/16	4.11.156.0	Enhanced Welcome Screen that helps you choose your location. Continuous scrolling. Accessibility improvements. Reliability & performance improvements.
Sport	02/07/16	4.11.156.0	Coverage of Canadian Football League. Continuous Scrolling. Accessibility improvements. Reliability & performance improvements.
OneNote	02/07/16	17.7070.58001.0
Calculator	29/06/16	10.1605.1582.0	New Programmer mode. New functions in Scientific mode Dark/Light Theme,
Alarms & Clock	29/06/16	10.1605.1623.0
Phone Companion	29/06/16	10.1605.1661.0
Get Started	29/06/16	3.11.1.0
News	29/06/16	4.11.155.0
Money	29/06/16	4.11.155.0
Sport	29/06/16	4.11.155.0
Weather	29/06/16	4.11.155.0
Mail & Calendar	25/06/16	17.6965.40901.0
Maps	25/06/16	5.1606.1670.0	Complete redesign. Multiple searches shown in tabs Improve voice-guided navigation. 3D cities Search. Notes in Favourites. Search results labelled on map. New guided public transport directions. Improvements to algorithms for searching whats nearby.
OneNote	25/06/16	17.7070.57821.0
Get Started	25/06/16	3.9.10.0
Groove Music	25/06/16	3.6.2205.0	Radio shows top artists, for Groove Music Pass Subscribers. Copy links to songs, albums & artists right in the app.
Films & TV	25/06/16	3.6.2144.0	Smarter default sorting. Maturity ratings.
Xbox	17/06/16	15.18.14017.0
Alarms & Clock	17/06/16	10.1605.1472.0
Voice Recorder	17/06/16	10.1605.1471.0
Sway	15/06/16	16.0.7070.4522	New languages. You can now search for keywords whilst editing. Bug Fixes.
Get Office	10/06/16	17.7031.23501.0
OneNote	10/06/16	17.6965.57891.0
Xbox	10/06/16	15.18.4004.0
Mail & Calendar	04/06/16	17.6868.41141.0
OneNote	04/06/16	17.6965.57881.0
News	04/06/16	4.9.76.0	Bug fixes
Photos	04/06/16	16.526.11220.0	Replay living images. View low-res photos at larger scale on high-res devices. Print individual photos using more detailed print options. Bug Fixes.
Phone	04/06/16	2.17.27003.0	Number of missed calls now shows on history tab. Voicemail tab now shows number of new voicemails. Cleaner look Fixed problem when dialling contacts by name.
Money	04/06/16	4.9.76.0	Bug fixes
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	04/06/16	3.9.5250.0	Well, the initial splash-screen looked different! That's all I've noticed.
Weather	04/06/16	4.9.76.0	Bug fixes
Sport	04/06/16	4.9.76.0	Bug fixes
Groove Music	01/06/16	3.6.2096	Major Update! App Faster. Gapless playback. Playlists have own menu, including a few other extra menus. Rebuild of music collection.
Mail & Calendar	27/05/16	17.6868.41111.0
3D Builder	27/05/16	11.1.8.0	Only thing I've noticed are visual changes to default screen when you load up app.
Sway	27/05/16	17.6965.45231.0	...
Camera	27/05/16	2016.404.120.0	...
OneNote	25/05/16	17.6965.57741.0	...
Films & TV	25/05/16	3.6.2096	Buying subsequent TV episodes is now more streamlined. Better handling of low disk space errors. Minor fixes and improvements.
Maps	19/05/16	4.1603.1190.0	Bug fixes and reliability improvements
Get Office	19/05/16	17.7012.23531.0
OneNote	19/05/16	17.6965.57691.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	14/05/16	3.9.5100.0
OneNote	07/05/16	17.6868.57841.0
Xbox	07/05/16	15.17.3003.00000
Sway	05/05/16	17.6965.45161.0	Recent Documents can now be found quickly if using work or education account. Several Bug Fixes.
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	05/05/16	3.9.5030.0
Mail & Calendar	05/05/16	17.6868.40731.0
Get Office	05/05/16	17.6927.23501.0
OneNote	02/05/16	17.6868.57811.0
Store	30/04/16	11602.1.26.0
Weather	29/04/16	4.9.51.0	Bug Fixes
News	29/04/16	4.9.51.0	Bug Fixes
Money	29/04/16	4.9.51.0	Bug Fixes
WiFi	29/04/16	1.1604.4.0
Sport	29/04/16	4.9.51.0	Bug Fixes
OneNote	29/04/16	17.6868.57771.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	24/04/16	3.8.4181.0
Messaging + Skype	21/04/16	2.15.20002.0
Phone	18/04/16	2.15.28004.0
Mail & Calendar	16/04/16	17.6769.40891.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	13/04/16	3.8.4092.0
Sway	09/04/16	16.0.6868.4515	Picture Zoom Jump List added to sway taskbar Bug fixes.
Camera	09/04/16	2016.325.60.0	Bug fixes for reliability & performance. User experience improvements.
Films & TV	09/04/16	3.6.1976.0	Minor improvements around downloads
Mail & Calendar	07/04/16	17.6769.40791.0	Drag & Drop attachments into emails.
People	06/04/16	10.0.10811.0
Mail & Calendar	02/04/16	17.6769.40721.0	Right-Click email to 'Move to Junk Folder' Option to turn off email message preview. Create, Rename & Delete email folders.
OneNote	01/04/16	17.6769.57631.0	Add voice recordings to note.
Get Started	29/03/16	3.5.11.0
Photos	29/03/16	16.325.12390.0	Under Settings, under Microsoft OneDrive, there is now quota info.
WiFi	29/03/16	1.1603.1.0
Phone	29/03/16	2.15.25005.0
Films & TV	29/03/16	3.6.1867	Improved media transport control layout. Added skip forward and skip back buttons Download estimates for films & TV programmes. Films & TV programmes can now be deleted on each of your devices.
Alarms & Clock	26/03/16	10.1603.12020.0	Improved design for creating & editing alarms & timers. Improved performance & accessibility.
OneNote	26/03/16	17.6769.17901.0	Right-click a selection of handwritten notes or drawings to group them together & move them around. Share notebook with anyone directly from OneNote so they can view or edit it on any device. If you use OneNote at office or class you can now sign in with just a work or school account.
Mail & Calendar	26/03/16	17.6568.46361.0
XBox	24/03/16	15.15.22005.00000	Celebrate gaming accomplishments with leaderboards and hero stats. New and improved featured games selection. Upgraded activity feed. Performance and Bug fixes.
Get Started	24/03/16	3.5.10.0
Get Started	22/03/16	3.5.9.0
Phone	19/03/16	2.15.9015.0
Get Office	19/03/16	17.6811.23771.0
Mail & Calendar	19/03/16	17.6568.46331.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	15/03/16	3.8.3092.0	Fixed issue where pyramid and tripeaks could cause a display driver error on some Intel based graphics cards. Fixed an issue where some players would occasionally see blank boards in daily challenges.
Sway	12/03/16	17.6769.45081.0
Store	09/03/16	2016.29.13.0
Get Started	08/03/16	2.6.16.0
Get Office	08/03/16	17.6801.23751.0
OneNote	08/03/16	17.6741.18401.0
Weather	05/03/16	4.8.277.0	Manual refresh of forecast data, in addition to automatic refresh. Accessibility improvements, including better narrator & keyboard navigation. Small Live Tiles to show current temperature. Updates to the weather conditions iconography. Performance and Reliability improvements. General Bug Fixes.
Sport	05/03/16	4.8.268.0	Ability to pin fav leagues & teams. Fixes to customise headers for certain markets. Fixes to order of MLS results. Fixes in the HKO pivot display in cricket. Fixes to how certain teams from Turkish Cup are displayed. Performance and reliability improvements.
News	05/03/16	4.8.268.0	A dark theme option when reading articles. Performance & reliability improvements. General Bug Fixes.
Money	05/03/16	4.8.268.0	Animated Prices within the app when updated. Support for small live tiles to show information when individual stocks, mutual funds or indices are pinned. Fixes to prevent a crash on currencies page. Fixes that improve chart accuracy. Fixes to improve how market selection is displayed when a money notification is selected. Performance & reliability improvements.
Mail & Calendar	05/03/16	17.6568.46271.0
Photos	04/03/16	16.302.8200.0	Living Images Supported. View Lo-Res images at larger scale on high-res devices. More detailed print options. Bug Fixes. Also, this update needed to introduce integration into Sway App.
Films & TV	04/03/16	3.6.1780.0	Subtitle files can now be picked during playback on personal videos. Minor fixes & improvements.
Camera	03/03/16	2016.225.10.0	Bug fixes for reliability & performance. User experience improvements. Ability to pause video during recording.
People	03/03/16	10.0.10500.0	History for contacts added
Sway	26/02/16	16.0.6741.4527	Deleted Sways added to a recycle bin. Full-screen improvements. Preview Edits. Emphasize Cards. Bug fixes.
OneNote	26/02/16	17.6741.18061.0	Play your videos From YouTube, TED & More; paste link into OneNote and watch. Add a Sway embedded into a Note. Right-Lick selection of notes and group them. See who's working on a notebook with you.
Mail & Calendar	26/02/16	17.6568.46121.0
Xbox	20/02/16	14.14.16008.00000	Streamlined access to friends, parties, messages & notifications. Trending on Xbox Live. Quickly resize the app to be more compact. Performance and bug fixes.
OneNote	20/02/16	17.6741.17851.0
Mail & Calendar	20/02/16	17.6568.46051.0
Mail & Calendar	13/02/16	17.6568.16901.0
Store	13/02/16	2016.27.2.0	Added "Built for Windows 10” tag to Apps.
OneNote	06/02/16	17.6568.15721.0
People	06/02/16	10.0.10220.0
Photos	06/02/16	16.201.11370.0	Share albums using a OneDrive link. View/Edit Albums across devices by uploading to OneDrive. Choose to show cloud-only content from OneDrive. Select Specific photos when importing. Pause/Resume slideshows via spacebar and enter. See location on a map for photos that include this info. Improved living image playback. bug Fixes.
Phone Companion	06/02/16	10.1602.3010.0
Camera	06/02/16	2016.128.10.0	Bug fixes for reliability & performance User experience improvements
Mail & Calendar	06/02/16	17.6568.16731.0	Multiple ways to Find/Search new and existing content of emails. What's New option now in Settings Menu. See here for more info.
Get Office	02/02/16	17.6628.23511.0
Sway	02/02/16	16.0.6629.2026
OneNote	30/01/16	17.6568.15581.0	Move/Copy pages or sections. Automatically transform your shapes into drawings. Use Office Lens from inside OneNote to capture that document or whiteboard. See what others are working on with you in a shared notebook
Films & TV	30/01/16	3.6.1694	Sharper thumbnails in  personal gallery "Date added" option added to sort menu in gallery. Personalised Recommendations in Films and TV galleries. Better downloaded error messages for low disk space. Metadata now fades out when you pause a video.
Store	27/01/16	2015.25.24.0
Photos	26/01/16	16.122.14020.0
MSN Weather	26/01/16	4.8.239.0
MSN Money	26/01/16	4.8.239.0
MSN Sport	26/01/16	4.8.239.0
MSN News	26/01/16	4.8.239.0
Store	24/01/16	2015.25.22.0
Messaging + Skype	21/01/16	2.13.20000.0
Sway	21/01/16	16.0.6614.2025	More styles & background textures. Nesting groups of content in other groups allows new format combinations. Performance improvements and bug fixes. You can ow view and present sways in full screen mode. Easier to copy/paste, drag/drop from File Explorer into Sway.
Maps	21/01/16	4.1601.10150.0	Live Tile on Start Bug Fixes and Reliability improvements
Calculator	21/01/16	10.1601.49020.0
OneNote	21/01/16	17.6366.43291.0
Camera	16/01/16	2016.107.10.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	16/01/16	3.7.1041.0
Get Started	09/01/16	2.6.12.0	Expanded design for mobile devices, desktop PCs and Surface Hub Design changes and performance improvements Bug Fixes
Xbox	09/01/16	11.13.6008.00000
Calculator	09/01/16	10.1601.36020.0
Get Office	09/01/16	17.6605.23751.0
Phone	09/01/16	2.12.14001.0
Store	09/01/16	2015.25.15.0
OneNote	06/01/16	17.6366.43091.0	Automatically transform your drawings into shapes. Move/Copy pages & sections to keep everything organised. See who's working in your shared notebooks. Share a copy of a page to other apps. Quickly insert a photo from phone's camera. Copy/paste content on your phone easier Bugs fixes & improvements.
Mail & Calendar	31/12/15	17.6525.42271.0	Undo mistakes. i.e. deleted emails Don't Sync This Folder (on some folders only) A "What's New" Window!
Windows Alarms & Clock	30/12/15	10.1512.58020.0
Windows Calculator	30/12/15	10.1512.54020.0
Windows Voice Recorder	22/12/15	10.1512.21110.0
Windows Alarms & Clock	22/12/15	10.1512.49020.0
Microsoft People	19/12/15	10.0.3450.0
Microsoft Solitaire Collection	19/12/15	3.6.12153.0
Windows Calculator	17/12/15	10.1512.47020.0
Mail & Calendar	17/12/15	17.6515.64021.0
Messaging + Skype	17/12/15	2.15.15004.0	Well, I notice there are Christmas emoticons in it, but that might have arrived in last update.
Store	17/12/15	2015.25.5.0	Minor modifications in "Downloads and Updates' section to layout and design.
Camera	15/12/15	2015.1211.10.0
Messaging + Skype	15/12/15	2.12.9011.0
Windows Maps	15/12/15	4.1512.3450.0	See live images from over 35,000 traffic cameras across 12 different countries or regions. Find Santa and follow him around world on 24th December. Select a business name on map to see contact info etc.
3D Builder	13/12/15	10.10.38.0	General fixes with 3D Scan App. Can import webcam & other images. Can now add bases to uneven objects.
Mail & Calendar	10/12/15	17.6509.64001.0	Linked Inboxes Settings expanded and reorganised. "Apply To All Accounts" for most settings. "Empty Folder" option on fav folders.
Sway	10/12/15	16.0.6509.2025
OneNote	09/12/15	17.6366.15841.0
Xbox	09/12/15	11.12.9011.00000
Microsoft Photos	09/12/15	15.1208/10480.0	Share Albums using a OneDrive link. View and Edit albums across devices by uploading to OneDrive. Chose to show cloud-only content from all OneDrive folders in settings. Select specific photos when importing. Pause/Resume slideshows using Spacebar and enter. See location on a map for photos that include this info. Improved living image playback Bug fixes Various mobile changes.
Windows Alarms & Clock	09/12/15	10.1511.65020.0
Windows Calculator	09/12/15	10.1512.34020.0
Phone	09/12/15	2.12.2002.0
Get Office	09/12/15	17.6418.23501.0
Films & TV	09/12/15	3.6.1573	Cast and crew information is now available on movie and TV show details pages. Improved download experience and error messaging. The app will now automatically queue up the next episode of a purchased TV series at the end of an episode
Microsoft Photos	03/12/15	15.1201.10020.0
OneNote	03/12/15	17.6366.15651.0	Automatically transform your drawings into shapes Move/Copy pages and sections to keep everything organised See who's working in your shared notebooks Share a copy of a page from phone to other apps Quickly insert a photo from phone camera Copy/pasting content on phone easier Bug fixes and improvements
People	03/12/15	10.0.3350.0
Wi-Fi	30/11/15	1.1511.2.0
Calculator	26/11/15	10.1511.60020.0	New Date Calculation Tool; calculate days between dates.
MSN Sport	24/11/15	4.7.130.0
Photos	22/11/15	15.1120.13270.0
Messaging + Skype	22/11/15	1.11.19004.0
Windows Voice Recorder	20/11/15	10.1511.17110.0
OneNote	20/11/15	17.6366.15391.0
Xbox	20/11/15	11.11.19012.0	Facebook integration (beta).  Record voiceover in your Game DVR clips.  Record any game.  Integrated Store.
Phone Companion	20/11/15	10.1511.18010.0
Photos	19/11/15	15.1118.12010.0	Easily view photos at actual size Share lumia living images as video Save photos from videos and edit on lumia phones See filename at top of viewer window Set photos as favourites and see them on phone tile n start (phone only) Files synced in OneDrive folders load quicker and appear in folder ivew (PC) More commands available on right click Bug Fixes
Wifi	19/11/15	1.1511.1.0
Xbox	19/11/15	11.11.17019.0
Sway	19/11/15	16.0.6417.2025
Alarms & Clock	19/11/15	10.1511.64020.0	Set you alarm to vibrate (phone only) Set your favourite music as custom alarm sound using .m4a files on phone. Remaining time to alarm takes DST into account Bug fixes to improve reliability and accessibility
Get Office	19/11/15	17.6418.23501.0
Messaging + Skype	19/11/15	1.11.13005.0	New Add friends on Skype option Skype Settings as another new option New Landscape Mode for Phablets resembling to Windows 10
Films & TV	19/11/15	3.6.1536.0	Dark theme/mode added in settings Additional keyboard shortcuts added.
Store	19/11/15	2015.23.23.0
MSN News	17/11/15	4.7.118.0
MSN Money	17/11/15	4.7.118.0
Windows Maps	17/11/15	4.1511.3161.0	Pin your Home or Work to Start Menu Find Santa and Follow him on 24th Dec Get lane guidance in turn-by-turn nav
MSN Sport	17/11/15	4.7.118.0
MSN Weather	17/11/15	4.7.118.0
Mail & Calendar	17/11/15	17.6416.42001.0
Sway	14/11/15	16.0.6409.2025
OneNote	14/11/15	17.6326.10031.0	Stability improvements
Phone	14/11/15	1.10.23004.0
Messaging + Skype	14/11/15	1.11.3005.0

On 14th November 2015 I updated from Windows 10 V1507 to Windows 10 V1511.

System App Updates Prior to this date can be found on this page.