Feb 15

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Hi all, yesterday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3281 (KB5052086) to the Dev and Beta Channels.

Valentine’s Day release with Dev and Beta running side by side

Some nice updates to recall, rollinmg out gradually so if you don’t see them rihght away don’t worry.

All smooth updates here, keep in mind during this short time Dev & Beta are overlapping you do have the option to switch from Dev to Beta if you would like to. One othe the next updated Dev will jump to higher builds taking away that option again.

Insider settings showing both Beta and Canary channel as an option while on Dev

Happy Upgrades!

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC

We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC.

A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.
A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.

Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC.

Here are some important details about how this feature works:

  • This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.
  • This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.
  • The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.
  • For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Recall (Preview)]

Recall is currently available in preview for Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Dev and Beta Channels on Copilot+ PCs.

  • We’re improving Recall on the next update. This important update will improve your experience. As part of this upcoming update, your existing snapshots will be deleted.
  • Recall filtering options are now easily accessible via the Recall system tray flyout instead of having to set filtering directly in Settings.
New filtering options in the Recall system tray flyout highlighted in a red box.
New filtering options in the Recall system tray flyout highlighted in a red box.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • We are rolling out the ability to share files directly from the jump lists on the taskbar, which appears when you right-click on an app with a jump list like Notepad the taskbar.
Share icon appearing on a txt file on the jump list for Notepad.
Share icon appearing on a txt file on the jump list for Notepad.

[Snap]

  • We are introducing an improvement to Snap in Windows 11 aimed at driving contextual learning and discovery of the feature. Inline messaging will now appear when you accidentally invoke the Snap Bar when dragging an app to the top middle of your desktop or Snap Flyout when hovering over the Minimize or Maximize button of an app. This messaging is designed to provide guidance on snapping app windows and educating users on the keyboard shortcuts for quickly snapping app windows in the future. We are trying several variants of this experience out.
Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Flyout.
Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Flyout.
Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Bar.
Inline messaging as seen at the top of the Snap Bar.

[File Explorer]

  • When “Restore previous folder windows at logon” is enabled in File Explorer, we will also now restore all the extra tabs which you previously had open in each File Explorer window. As part of this work, we have also updated the logic for the “Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in” setting via Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, so that when you enable this, we will automatically enable the File Explorer specific setting for you too.
  • We’re adding a new option to snooze or turn off the “Start backup” reminder in the File Explorer address bar, for those that aren’t already backing up their Documents, Pictures, or Desktop folders. This option is available when you right-click “Start backup”.

[Spotlight on the lock screen]

  • We’re trying out a few different treatments for the top right hotspot (“Like the image that you see”) on the lock screen. You can now learn more about the spotlight image on your lock screen by clicking on the “Like icon” that takes you to the Spotlight landing page.

[Spotlight on the desktop]

  • We’re beginning to roll out some changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon interaction model for Windows Insiders. You can now quickly and easily discover more information about your background image by simply hovering over or clicking on the “Learn about this picture” icon on your desktop.
  • We’re beginning to roll out some additional changes to the Desktop Spotlight icon for Windows Insiders to help with discoverability including changes to the icon color/backplate and moving the icon to the bottom right position on your desktop.

[Settings]

  • Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers coming to Settings homepage will begin to see a new card for referring a PC Game Pass subscription to their friends to try PC Game Pass for free. This new card will only appear on the Settings homepage if you’re signed into your PC with your Microsoft account and meet the required eligibility criteria.
New Settings homepage card for referring PC Game Pass to friends.
New Settings homepage card for referring PC Game Pass to friends.
  • We are temporarily disabling the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator which began rolling out with Build 26120.3073. We plan to address some issues and roll it out again in a future flight.

[Other]

  • We are removing the Location History feature, an API used by Cortana to access 24 hours of device history when location was enabled. With the removal of the Location History feature, location data will no longer be saved locally, and the corresponding settings are also being removed from Settings > Privacy & security > Location page.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

  • Fixed the issue causing unexpectedly high DCOM CPU usage for some Insiders after opening the Performance section of Task Manager

[Lock screen]

  • Fixed an issue in recent flights where if you tried to reset your password from the login screen, it wouldn’t work due to an underlying crash.

[File Explorer]

  • As part of our ongoing commitment to improving File Explorer accessibility, this release includes increased support for the text scaling (via Settings > Accessibility > Text size) across File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs and the copy dialogs.
  • Fixed an issue causing the see more “…” menu in the command bar to open in the wrong direction for some resolutions.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • Fixed an issue when using multiple monitors, where the distance between the date and time and edge of the screen wasn’t consistent.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following fixes are rolling out for improved Windows Search on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs:

  • Fixed the issue where the AI sparkle and underline animation in the File Explorer search box was not present.
  • The search box on the taskbar now has the AI sparkle and underline animation just like the File Explorer search box has.
  • Fixed the issue where In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
  • Fixed the issue where in some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
  • Fixed the issue where the tip about the new search improvements would appear whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue where if you were using a non-default mouse color (enabled in Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch), it may unexpectedly revert back to white when you encountered a UAC dialog.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash on launch for some Insiders.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue for Shared PC users, where when signing in with a Guest account using Shared PC, the sign in may fail. This happened if DeviceLock password policies were configured.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[File Explorer]

  • We are disabling account-based content in File Explorer under Recent, Favorites, Details Pane, and Recommended for Entra IDs in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Known issues

[General]

  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • [NEW] Some Insiders may experience an issue where Recall is unable to automatically save snapshots, and the setting can’t be turned on in Settings. We’re working on a fix for this issue.
  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.
  • Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
  • Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • [REMINDER] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.
  • Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
  • The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
  • If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Power and Battery]

  • The colors in the new battery icon aren’t displayed correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

source: Windows Blogs

Feb 08

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788 (Canary Channel)

Hi all, last Wednesday Microsoft relesed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27788 to the Canary Channel.

This build is a lot about MIDI, brings back one of my old hobies to mind, might just pick that one up again. Let the music flow!

Great to see the new homepage in settings adjusting to IT managed scenarios to make supporting users even easier.

Happy Flighting!

What’s new with Build 27788

Windows MIDI Services Public Preview

We’re excited to release the first in-box public preview of Windows MIDI Services, our complete rewrite of MIDI on Windows with a focus on a great experience for musicians and a strong foundation for future expansion and enhancement.

MIDI is the standard, first released in 1983, that is used to synchronize synthesizers and drum machines in almost all modern electronic music. It’s used to record and play back note information, control stage lights and effects, keep mixers in a large venue in sync, and so much more. Although it is not itself audio, the MIDI protocol is essential to making music and was heavily used in the rise of hip-hop and other genres. MIDI 2.0 is the first major update to the core MIDI protocol since 1983, offering everything that modern musicians need today, like increased speed and fidelity, better control of instruments, modern bi-directional conversations and negotiation between instruments, discovery, better USB timing, and more.

Windows MIDI Services is our new MIDI stack which handles not only MIDI 2.0 but also brings our MIDI 1.0 implementation up to modern expectations. It works on 64-bit operating systems on all supported processors, including Arm64. Windows MIDI Services offers the following benefits:

  • Full support of the MIDI 2.0 Standard, including high-speed data transmission, higher-fidelity messages, increased resolution for controller values, and full in-service MIDI 2.0 endpoint discovery and protocol negotiation.
  • Faster transports, leading to better timing and reduced jitter.
  • Faster USB MIDI driver with full support for both MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0.
  • Every endpoint is now multi-client, meaning multiple apps can use a device at the same time.
  • Better endpoint and port
  • In-service scheduling of outgoing timestamped messages, and timestamped incoming messages, for apps using the new Windows MIDI Services App SDK.
  • Built-in loopback and app-to-app MIDI
  • Automatic translation between MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 based on API, application, and device needs.
  • Much more device metadata available to applications.
  • Better device add/update/remove notifications.
  • Backwards compatibility with our WinMM (MME) MIDI 1.0 API (and WinRT MIDI 1.0 in the future) enabling applications to light up with new features without any changes, and even access MIDI 2.0 devices at a MIDI 1.0 feature level.
  • Open source. The MIDI Service, all its transports, all the tools, the tests, and the SDK are all MIT-licensed open source, and have been developed in concert with hardware and software partners around the world.

New USB MIDI 2.0 Class Driver: The new USB MIDI 2.0 Class Driver, graciously provided to Microsoft by AMEI (Association of Musical Electronics Industry of Japan) and written by AmeNote, is a high-speed USB MIDI driver which works with both the new USB MIDI 2.0 devices, as well as with class-compliant USB MIDI 1.0 devices. By default, for compatibility, this is enabled only for USB MIDI 2.0 devices and a handful of USB MIDI 1.0 devices. However, you may manually assign this driver to any class-compliant USB MIDI 1.0 device yourself to gain the better transfer mechanisms. We also have several built-in transports for things that were not previously available without third-party drivers. Learn more about the built-in transports here.

Windows MIDI Services App SDK and Tools: Applications using Windows MIDI Services do so through the Windows MIDI Services App SDK, shipped out-of-band. Current preview releases are available on our GitHub repo releases page. Please note that these are unsigned releases and so will give you a warning when you download and install. In addition to installing the required runtime components, the SDK runtime installer includes these tools:

  • Windows MIDI Services Console (midi.exe): The all-around console tool for sending messages, checking the state of MIDI, monitoring incoming messages, sending System Exclusive, and much more.
  • MIDI Diagnostics (mididiag.exe): A tech support tool which provides information about the state of MIDI on the PC.
  • MIDI Kernel Streaming Endpoint Info (midiksinfo.exe): A hardware developer-focused tool which provides information about the KS (Kernel Streaming) endpoints.
  • MIDI multicast dynamic DNS Info (midimdnsinfo.exe): A tool to support the upcoming Network MIDI 2.0 transport.

The Windows MIDI Services App SDK also includes the MIDI Settings app – a desktop application for managing endpoints, renaming endpoints and ports, creating loopback devices, managing your network MIDI 2.0 connections, and more.

In addition, we’re currently working on our Network MIDI 2.0 transport, recently demonstrated at the NAMM Show in California, the virtual patch-bay to enable routing between endpoints, and a rewrite of our BLE MIDI 1.0 transport. This will all ship in a future version of Windows MIDI Services.

We look forward to having Windows Insiders who dabble in music creation try out the Windows MIDI Services Public Preview and MIDI 2.0. Try out using existing applications that use the WinMM MIDI 1.0 function with the new Windows MIDI Services installed. Additionally, any MIDI 1.0 devices with specific IHV drivers. You can also join the discussion here on Discord if you have questions or are looking to help! You will find a list of known issues documented here.

Ability to seamlessly resume OneDrive files in 1-click from your phone to PC

We are gradually rolling out the ability to seamlessly resume working on OneDrive files from your phone (iOS and Android) on your Windows 11 PC with a single click. With this feature, you will get a notification asking you if you want to pick up where you left off editing a OneDrive file like a Word doc that you last viewed or edited on your phone within a 5-minute time window preceding unlocking your PC.

A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.
A cross-device resume notification indicating that you can continue working across devices seamlessly.

Upon clicking on this notification, the same file that you were viewing or editing previously on your phone will open in your default browser on your PC.

Here are some important details about how this feature works:

  • This feature works only when signing into OneDrive with a Microsoft account. Work and school accounts are not supported. And you need to be using the same Microsoft account signing into OneDrive on your phone and signing into your Windows 11 PC.
  • This feature supports Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, OneNote notebooks/pages, and PDFs.
  • The OneDrive file must be opened on your phone when your PC is locked. If you then unlock your PC within 5 minutes of accessing the file on your phone, you will receive the resume notification as noted above.
  • For the best experience using this feature, you should be logged into OneDrive in your default browser on your PC.

This feature can be managed and turned off via Settings > Apps > Resume.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Devices and Drivers -> Linked Phone.

Changes and Improvements

[File Explorer]

  • When “Restore previous folder windows at logon” is enabled in File Explorer, we will also now restore all the extra tabs which you previously had open in each File Explorer window. As part of this work, we have also updated the logic for the “Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in” setting via Settings > Accounts > Sign in options, so that when you enable this, we will automatically enable the File Explorer specific setting for you too.
  • We’re adding a new option to snooze or turn off the “Start backup” reminder in the File Explorer address bar, for those that aren’t already backing up their Documents, Pictures, or Desktop folders. This option is available when you right-click “Start backup”.

[Settings]

  • We are starting to roll out the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work and school and Microsoft account types. We are starting the rollout of this gradually with managed commercial PCs who have both work and school, and Microsoft accounts presently seeing this experience first.
The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.
The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed an issue in Build 27783 which was causing multiple surfaces (including the taskbar, search, Settings, and lock screen) to cyclically crash for a small number of Insiders.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to have a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION bugcheck in Build 27783.
  • Fixed an issue where the description for virtual NICs wasn’t displayed correctly in ncpa.cpl, it showed garbled characters.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could cause scanning apps to not detect a scanner, although one was connected.
  • Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.
  • [ADDED] If you see an error trying to install Build 27788 (0x8007000d) along with a failed .NET update (0x80073712), click retry on Build 27788 and not the .NET update and the build should install.

[File Explorer]

  • If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not be rendered correctly when you restore it.

[Settings]

  • [NEW] The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

[Hyper-V]

  • We’re investigating reports where Hyper-V, and other features which rely on Hyper-V (such as WSL) don’t work properly.

Microsoft Store Update

Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels running version 22501.1401.xx and higher of the Microsoft Store and higher will see the following improvement rolling out:

Improving installation options for games: We’re adding a new capability that lets you install individual components for some games. For instance, Call of Duty and Halo can let you install (or not install) high-resolution textures or the campaign. This gives you greater control of your gaming experience and the install size of your games.

Example of game components that can be individually installed in the Microsoft Store for some games.
Example of game components that can be individually installed in the Microsoft Store for some games.

Once your game is installed, you can return to its product page, click the new Manage button, and modify what components are installed.

New Manage button on some game product pages showing components.
New Manage button on some game product pages showing components.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

source: Windows Blogs

Feb 08

Discovering the Future of Computing: My Journey with the Surface Laptop 7th Edition and Copilot+

As a tech enthusiast, I’m always on the lookout for devices that not only meet my professional demands but also enrich my digital life with innovation. Recently, I embarked on a new adventure with the Surface Laptop 7th Edition, powered by Copilot+ with Recall and Click-to-Do features in the dev channel. The experience has been nothing short of extraordinary.

A Marvel of Design and Performance

First things first, the Surface Laptop 7th Edition is a visual and tactile delight. The sleek design, premium materials, and vibrant touchscreen make it a joy to use. But the beauty is not just skin deep. Under the hood, this machine packs a punch with powerful performance that handles everything from complex software to everyday tasks with ease.

Enter Copilot+: Your Intelligent Companion

What sets this experience apart is the integration of Copilot+. Think of Copilot+ as the intelligent co-pilot you’ve always wanted—a companion that not only assists but anticipates your needs. With Recall and Click-to-Do, productivity reaches new heights.

Recall: A Revolution in Personal Organization

Recall is like having a photographic memory for your digital life. It’s a feature that allows you to effortlessly search and retrieve files, notes, and even snippets of conversations with unparalleled accuracy. Gone are the days of frantically digging through folders and emails. With Recall, everything you need is just a query away, saving you time and stress.

Click-to-Do: Streamlining Your Workflow

Click-to-Do is another game-changer. It’s a feature that turns your thoughts into action with a simple click. Whether it’s setting reminders, creating to-do lists, or launching applications, Click-to-Do makes multitasking a breeze. It’s like having a personal assistant that’s always one step ahead, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

The Dev Channel Experience: Ahead of the Curve

Being part of the dev channel means I get to experience cutting-edge features before they’re widely available. It’s an exciting glimpse into the future of computing, where technology adapts to our needs in ways we never imagined. The combination of Copilot+ with Recall and Click-to-Do in the Surface Laptop 7th Edition is a testament to this forward-thinking approach.

Final Thoughts: A Leap into the Future

In a world where time is of the essence, the Surface Laptop 7th Edition with Copilot+ has proven to be an invaluable ally. The seamless integration of innovative features transforms how we work, play, and connect. If you’re looking for a device that embodies the future of computing, look no further. The Surface Laptop 7th Edition with Copilot+ is not just a tool—it’s a transformational experience.

Feb 02

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073 (Dev and Beta Channels)

Hi all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3073 (KB5050090) to the Dev Channel. With this update, we are previewing the ability to use improved Windows Search to find files saved in your OneDrive with Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs. We also have a small Paint update rolling out (see below).

Starting today, Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel can now access the same Dev Channel updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2. These updates are initially optional, allowing you to upgrade at your convenience.

Exiting times for Copilot+ PC users, but also for the Beta channel users that now can choose to start getting the Dev channels goodies!

Happy Upgrading!

Optional Windows 11, version 24H2 update offers in Windows Update for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel highlighted in a red box.
Optional Windows 11, version 24H2 update offers in Windows Update for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel highlighted in a red box.

We plan to make these updates recommended later this year, which means you will eventually get upgraded to 24H2-based updates automatically if you are in the Beta Channel. Until that happens, the Beta Channel will continue to receive both updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 AND Windows 11, version 23H2 (but sometimes not at the same time). Please note that if you choose to upgrade to receiving updates based on Windows 11, version 24H2 in the Beta Channel, you may lose some feature rollouts. 

If you are an Insider in the Dev Channel, you now have a window to switch from the Dev Channel to the Beta Channel if you would like. This window will only be open for as long as we’re releasing the same 24H2-based updates across both the Dev and Beta Channels. By the end of February, the Dev Channel will jump ahead to receiving updates with higher build numbers and once this happens, the opportunity to switch between these channels will close. When the Dev Channel jumps ahead, things might not be as stable as the Dev Channel is today, so we highly encourage you to evaluate which channel you would like to be in during the time in which the window to switch is open.

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search

A few weeks ago, we began previewing improved Windows Search with Windows Insiders on Copilot+ PCs. In that first preview, we introduced semantic indexing along with traditional lexical indexing for finding files saved locally in indexed locations on Copilot+ PCs with 40+ TOPS NPU onboard.

Today, we are excited to announce support for also finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search. Just use your own words to find photos stored and saved in the cloud by describing what they are about like “European castles” or “summer picnics” in the search box at the top right corner of File Explorer. In addition to photos stored locally on your Copilot+ PC, photos from the cloud will now show up in the search results together. In addition to searching for photos, exact matches for your keywords within the text of your cloud files will show in the search results.

Results including mountain bike photos from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.
Results including mountain bike photos from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.

Finding photos saved in the cloud currently works when searching within File Explorer directly. This will also work directly from the Windows search box on the taskbar in a future flight.

You can try this experience out today with your personal OneDrive when signed in with your Microsoft account and connected to the internet. If you are signed into OneDrive with a work or school account (Entra ID), you will only see matches for keywords you are searching for within the text of your cloud files in the search results – not photos. Third-party cloud providers will be able to support this experience with their services as well with documentation coming soon.

We’re excited to introduce a new way to find your cloud content in Windows and will continue improving search results and capabilities over time. These improved Windows Search experiences continue to gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away. Support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs is coming soon. See here for more details.

You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.

FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search.

Other changes that are included in this Dev and Beta Channel update

This update (Build 26120.3073) includes other changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across all Windows 11 PCs in addition to the features noted above that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. These changes are documented below in two buckets:

  • New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
  • New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Settings]

  • We are starting to roll out the Settings homepage for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator. The feature will show some existing cards relevant to enterprise-managed PCs like “Recommended settings” and “Bluetooth devices” as well as two new enterprise-specific device info and accessibility preferences cards. For commercial customers who also use their Microsoft account on their managed PC, there will also be a new accounts card indicating the presence of both work and school and Microsoft account types. We are starting the rollout of this gradually with managed commercial PCs who have both work and school, and Microsoft accounts presently seeing this experience first.
The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.
The Settings homepage for a commercial customer on a managed PC.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing the taskbar preview windows to not display sometimes when hovering over open apps in the taskbar.

[File Explorer]

  • We did some work to help address an issue where File Explorer might hang when browsing a folder with lots of media in it.
  • Fixed an issue where if you opened a File Explorer window and minimized it in, it might not be rendered correctly when you restored it.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • Fixed the issue where in some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.

[Live Captions]

  • Fixed an issue where live captions might show an icon in the taskbar, but the window wouldn’t display on the screen, after disconnecting a second monitor.

[Remote Desktop]

  •  Fixed an issue which was causing Remote Desktop to show significant display / rendering issues when connecting to certain other computers.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing Settings to crash when interacting with the Bluetooth & Devices page sometimes.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue where when using GDI+ to shrink an image, the colors may be wrong afterwards..
  • Fixed an issue which could cause shutdown to be noticeably slower on certain devices when a controller was connected.
  • Fixed an underlying issue causing the Windows Security pop up when signing into certain Wi-Fi networks to not be interactable. This may have also impacted interacting with this pop up for certain other options in Settings.
  • Fixed an issue where the description for virtual NICs wasn’t displayed correctly in ncpa.cpl, it showed garbled characters.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

  • We fixed the issue causing a 0xc0e90001 error to occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs.

[Other]

  • [Memory leak] Fixed: Leaks occur when predictive input ideas show.
  • [High dynamic range (HDR)] Fixed: The display of some games appears oversaturated. This occurs when you use Auto HDR.
  • [Remote Desktop Gateway] Fixed: You get errors or cannot sign when you connect to Windows 11 workstations. This occurs when you enforce device redirection.
  • [USB audio device drivers] Fixed: The code 10 error message, “This device cannot start” appears. This occurs when you connect to certain external audio management devices.

Known issues

[General]

  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing unexpectedly high DCOM CPU usage for some Insiders after opening the Performance section of Task Manager

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
  • Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
  • Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
  • The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
  • If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
  • If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • [NEW] The AI sparkle and underline animation in the File Explorer search box is not present in this build even when improved Windows Search is in use on your Copilot+ PC. If your search results are powered by improved Windows Search, you will see a notice at the bottom of File Explorer stating, “Search uses AI to find results” and directing you to file feedback if something doesn’t look right.
  • In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
  • In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
  • In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
  • The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have an impact on the other title bar buttons.

[Power and Battery]

  • [NEW] The colors in the new battery icon aren’t displaying correctly when you have your mode in Personalization > Colors set to certain options with Custom.

[Settings]

  • [NEW] The Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.

Paint Update

We are rolling out an update for Paint (version 11.2412.271.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. In this update, we are introducing the Copilot menu to Paint where you can access all the intelligent features which help you complete your image generation and editing tasks faster. Clicking on the Copilot icon from the toolbar will expand into a drop-down menu where you can easily access the features Cocreator, Image Creator, Generative erase, and Remove background. Note that Cocreator is only available on Copilot+ PCs. Within the dropdown, each feature will also include a short description to help you choose the right tool.

Paint Copilot menu opened.
Paint Copilot menu opened.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Apps > Paint.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 25

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000 (Dev Channel)

Hi all, Yesterday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000 (KB5050103) to the Dev Channel.

Fast and smooth updates on my DevChannel devices, including the Surface Laptop 7th edition (ARM)

The issue on ARM resuming from staandby tiggering a GSOD was fixed last build however slowness/sluggyness was still happeing sounds like this might be solved with this build too.

Playing around with improved search is great, make sure you give it a spin!

Happy Upgrades!

New features gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

Improving the battery iconography in Windows 11

Introducing new and improved battery icons in Windows 11! These icons have been designed to communicate battery status of your PC with just a quick glance. Key changes include colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage.

Battery shown in black, yellow, and green to indicate different charging states.
Battery shown in black, yellow, and green to indicate different charging states.

When your battery icon is green, this shows that your PC is charging and in a good state. A yellow battery icon will let you know that your PC using battery in energy saving mode – this automatically happens when your battery is less than or equal to 20% to preserve power. When the battery icon is red, you have a critically low battery and should plug in your PC as soon as possible. You will see these new battery icons on the taskbar in the system tray, in the quick settings flyout, and in Settings. The new battery icons will begin showing on the Lock screen in a future flight.

As always, your PC’s battery status and more will also be available to you when you hover over the battery icon in the system tray and under Settings > System > Power & battery where you can also adjust the battery level percentage in which energy saver mode kicks on for your PC.

Along with the updates to the battery icon, we are also introducing the ability to show your battery percentage next to the battery icon in the system tray – a highly requested feature by Insiders and customers. To enable this, go to Settings > Power & battery and toggle on the “Battery Percentage” setting.

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Power and Battery > Battery.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[Input]

  • After being temporarily disabled to address some issues with Build 26120.2213, we are beginning to roll out a new Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 again. This change introduces the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type. This includes button accelerators (example: X button for backspace, Y button for spacebar) additionally the keyboard keys have been vertically aligned for better controller navigation patterns.
New Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.
New Gamepad keyboard layout for the touch keyboard in Windows 11 that supports the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type.

[Narrator]

  • We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Jump to list item (I’) allows you to quickly access and jump to a list item on a page or a document. Beginning and end of element (Comma (,)  and Period (.)) allow you to quickly jump to the beginning or end of large tables, lists or landmarks. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘I’, ‘,’ and ‘.’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki pages, etc.).

[Search on the Taskbar]

  • Improved support for web search providers in Windows Search for the EEA, including clearer provider attribution in tabs.

[Other]

  • Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are now deprecated. With this build, we’re beginning to disable the feature.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[General]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing significant performance degradation for a small population of Insiders in the previous flight due to repeated background crashes.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where sometimes you would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
  • Fixed an issue where the File Explorer address bar unexpectedly overlapped with content while in full screen (F11) view.
  • Improved performance of context menu launches for people when right-clicking on cloud files.
  • Made a change to help ensure thumbnails for cloud files are displayed more consistently in search results within File Explorer.
  • Fixed an issue where searching might lose keyboard focus on the text box while you were typing.

[Other]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to scanners not being detected by scanning apps, although the scanner was connected.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could result in 2 in 1 PCs unexpectedly changing screen orientation when coming out of sleep.

Known issues

[General]

  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.
  • A 0xc0e90001 error will occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs. This will be fixed in the next Dev Channel flight. For recovery options on your PC, visit Settings > System > Recovery.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
  • Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
  • Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
  • The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
  • If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
  • If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

  • If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also impact the other title bar buttons.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
  • In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
  • In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
  • In some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.
  • The underline animation in the File Explorer search box sometimes does not stop pulsing.
  • The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

[Voice Access]

  • [NEW] Voice access may not work in this build.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 19

Previewing Improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs with Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel

Hi all, Last Friday today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2992 (KB5050083) to the Dev Channel.

With this update, we are previewing improved Windows Search with Windows Insiders with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs.

After updating my Surface Laptop 7th edition, the issue causing slugginess and GSOD resuming from standby seems to be fixed (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAu1l9n)

Some nice added features for magnifier

Happy Upgrades!

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Improved Windows Search

We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on Copilot+ PCs by introducing semantic indexing along with traditional indexing. Whether it’s searching in File Explorer, in the Windows search box on your taskbar, or in Settings – just type what’s on your mind to find it on your Copilot+ PC. You no longer need to remember file names, exact words in file content, or settings names. For example, you can use your own words to find images by typing “bridge at sunset”, documents by describing what they are about like “Europe trip budget”, or settings like “change my theme”. Thanks to the power of the 40+ TOPS NPU onboard Copilot+ PCs, these search improvements work even when you’re not connected to the internet.

Use your own words to search for documents and images in File Explorer.
Use your own words to search for documents and images in File Explorer.
Use your own words to search for documents and images from your taskbar.
Use your own words to search for documents and images from your taskbar.
Use your own words to change settings on your Copilot+ PC in Settings.
Use your own words to change settings on your Copilot+ PC in Settings.

Today, searching for files on your Copilot+ PC with improved Windows Search will only work for files saved locally in indexed locations on your PC. You can go to Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows to adjust which locations are indexed on your PC or turn on “Enhanced” to index your entire PC. In a future flight, we will support searching for documents and photos stored in cloud storage providers such as OneDrive.

Searching for settings like “change my theme” will work within the Settings app for now. In a future flight, you will be able to do this within the Windows search box on the taskbar.

These improved Windows Search experiences will gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. These experiences are supported in select languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and document formats. Supported file formats include .txt, .pdf, .docx, .doc, .rtf, .pptx, .ppt, .xls, .xlsx for documents and .jpg/.jpeg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .ico for images. See here for more details.

You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.

FEEDBACK for File Explorer Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Files Folders and Online Storage > File Explorer Search.

FEEDBACK for Windows Taskbar Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Search.

FEEDBACK for Settings Search: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > Search Settings.

New text action for Click to Do (Preview)

You’ll see a new text action for Click to Do available on Copilot+ PCs called Refine. To try this out, press Win + Click directly on a block of text or press Win + Q and then navigate to the text you’d like to proofread and refine. When you open the menu, the new action will be under Rewrite > Refine.

New Refine text action in Click to Do.
New Refine text action in Click to Do.

All the other actions you’ve seen in Click to Do are still here. If anything looks missing, please check the Microsoft Store for the latest Photos and Paint apps installed.

You can learn more about using Click to Do here.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Click to Do.

Other changes included in this Dev Channel update

This update (Build 26120.2992) includes other changes and improvements available to Windows Insiders across all Windows 11 PCs in addition to the features noted above that are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. These changes are documented below in two buckets:

  • New features, improvements, and fixes that are being gradually rolled out for Insiders who have turned on the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available (via Settings > Windows Update*).
  • New features, improvements, and fixes rolling out to everyone in the Dev Channel.

For more information, see the Reminders section at the bottom of this blog post.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

  • We’ve added a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane.

[Magnifier]

  • We’re adding a new keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus for Magnifier users to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom.
  • In addition to the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Minus to quickly toggle between the current zoom and 1X zoom, we have also added buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last/preferred magnification.
New buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification highlighted in a red box.
New buttons in Magnifier to reset zoom to fit to screen and reset zoom to your last or preferred magnification highlighted in a red box.

Fixes gradually being rolled out to the Dev Channel with toggle on*

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where the date/time properties of files were unexpectedly updated in some cases after copying them.
  • Fixed an issue where File Explorer may sometimes lose focus on the search box while typing.
  • Fixed an issue where when you did a search it may unexpectedly trigger the search happening repeatedly.
  • Fixed an issue where the Details Pane icons weren’t responding correctly to theme changes, making it hard to see if you switched from dark to light or vice versa.
  • Fixed a black flash in File Explorer that appeared when duplicating a tab.

[Task Manager]

  • Fixed an issue where Task manager wrongly identified an HDD as an SSD.

[Click to Do]

  • We fixed the issue where Click to Do would sometimes not highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.

Changes and Improvements gradually being rolled out to everyone in the Dev Channel

[Windows Backup]

  • You will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search and pin apps you want to your taskbar.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[Other]

  • [Windows Kernel Vulnerable Driver Blocklist file (DriverSiPolicy.p7b)] This update adds to the list of drivers that are at risk for Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attacks.

Known issues

[General]

  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26120. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.
  • [NEW] A 0xc0e90001 error will occur when booting into Windows Recovery (WinRE) on Arm64 PCs. This will be fixed in the next Dev Channel flight. For recovery options on your PC, visit Settings > System > Recovery.

[Recall]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Recall can be enabled or disabled from “Turn Windows features on or off”. We are caching the Recall binaries on disk while we test add/remove. In a future update we will completely remove the binaries.
  • Some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots”, while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
  • Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Sometimes additional context is given when using more intelligent text actions powered by Phi Silica.
  • The intelligent text actions leverage the power of Microsoft’s secure cloud to improve your text results by ensuring prompts and responses are safe and appropriate. This data is automatically deleted. Local moderation to ensure the safety of prompts and responses will be added in the future, replacing this cloud endpoint.
  • [NEW] If any of your actions on image entities are no longer appearing, please ensure you have the latest updates for the Photos and Paint app from the Microsoft Store.

[Live captions & real-time translation]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • Some Insiders may see a crash on first launch of live captions. Restart live captions if you encounter this issue and you will not see it again.
  • If audio is playing or the microphone is enabled, switching languages will crash live captions. Stop audio when changing languages to resume captions or translations.

[File Explorer]

  • [NEW] If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Improved Windows Search]

The following known issues will be fixed in future updates to Windows Insiders:

  • [NEW] In this build, the search box on the taskbar does not yet have the same underline and sparkles icon UI that the File Explorer search box has. This is coming in a future flight.
  • [NEW] In some rare cases, improved Windows search experiences may not be available and may require a reboot to start working.
  • [NEW] In some rare cases, File explorer search might be unresponsive and may require a reboot to start working.
  • [NEW] In some rare cases, searching on Outlook while offline might result in some results not being found.
  • [NEW] The underline animation in the File Explorer search box sometimes does not stop pulsing.
  • [NEW] The tip about the new search improvements appears whenever you set focus to the search box in File Explorer, rather than only once.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 19

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774 (Canary Channel)

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft relesed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774 to the Canary Channel.

ISOs are avalaivel for this build – they can be > downloaded here <

Upgrades went smoothly on all my canary channel devices, make sure to file feedback when you spot any issues with this build not listed below. With Administrator protection integrated in Security settings, we’re getting closer to having this awesome feature available for every user with admin rights. If you haven’t tested this feature yet, make sure you do this makes using your device so much safer!

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[Windows Setup]

  • When installing Windows from installation media, you will now see a confirmation dialog when formatting or deleting partitions.

[Administrator protection]

  • Administrator protection can now be enabled from Windows Security settings under the Account Protection tab. This allows users to enable this feature without requiring help from IT admins. It also allows Windows home users to enable Administrator protection via Windows Security settings. Changing this setting requires a Windows reboot.
  • With administrator protection enabled, the prompt requesting the user’s authorization for elevating untrusted and unsigned applications now comes with expanded color-coded regions which will now extend down over the app description.
Windows Security credential dialog example showing expanded color over app description.
Windows Security credential dialog example showing expanded color over app description.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off in the latest Canary builds.

[Other]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Xbox app to fail to launch with a “Please try again” error sometimes in the last two Canary builds.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.

[File Explorer]

  • If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

[Remote Desktop]

  • [NEW] Using MTSC.exe for Remote Desktop may fail on this build with error 0x80080005. As a workaround, please launch as admin.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 11

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768 (Canary Channel)

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768 to the Canary Channel.

The 2nd build of 2025 brings a few welcomed fixes to the Canary channel

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

[File Explorer]

  • We’ve added a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane.

[Settings]

  • The ability to change time zones is available again under Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time for standard (non-admin) users.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where the date/time properties of files were unexpectedly updated in some cases after copying them.
  • Fixed an issue where File Explorer may sometimes lose focus on the search box while typing.
  • Fixed an issue where when you did a search it may unexpectedly trigger the search happening repeatedly.
  • Fixed an issue where the Details Pane icons weren’t responding correctly to theme changes, making it hard to see if you switched from dark to light or vice versa.
  • Fixed a black flash in File Explorer that appeared when duplicating a tab.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue which could lead to the mouse cursor unexpectedly stuttering when you moved it around sometimes.

[Graphics]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which could result in some games appearing oversaturated when using Auto HDR.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders in Canary to experience bugchecks with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
  • We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.
  • [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where SFC /scannow is showing errors every time it’s run.

[File Explorer]

  • [NEW] If you open a File Explorer window and minimize it in this build, it may not render correctly when you restore it.

source: Windows Blogs

Jan 04

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766 (Canary Channel)

Hi all, Yesteday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766 to the Canary Channel.

This 1st flight of the year installed smoothly on my Canary channel devices, a few tweaks it seems.

Happy New to everyone & enjoy your 1st flight!

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that improve the overall experience for Insiders running this build on their PCs.

Fixes

[General]

  • We fixed the issue where if you roll back from Build 27764 to an earlier build (including if the upgrade failed), you would see an “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced.
  • As of the latest Insider Preview builds in the Canary Channel, the main issues causing Insiders to experience an increase in rollbacks (with error code 0xc190010) when attempting to upgrade have been addressed. As a reminder, 0xc190010 is a generic error code that has multiple root causes, so if you’re continuing to experience issues, please file feedback (WIN + F) to investigate.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders in Canary to experience frequent explorer.exe crashes after they clean installed or reset their PC.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COPILOT+ PCs] If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available”. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN”.
  • We’re working on the fix for an underlying issue causing accent colored window borders to not be not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations to show even though the setting to show animations is turned off.

source: Windows Blogs

Dec 23

Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Copilot: Your AI Companion for Productivity and Creativity

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying productive and creative can be a challenge. Enter Microsoft Copilot, an AI-powered assistant designed to revolutionize the way you work and create. Whether you’re a developer, data analyst, or business professional, Copilot offers innovative solutions to enhance your productivity, creativity, and data accessibility.

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant that leverages advanced language models to provide intelligent support across various Microsoft platforms and products. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, offering a more interactive and efficient digital workspace.

Key Features of Microsoft Copilot

  1. Enhanced Productivity: Copilot helps you streamline your workflow by automating repetitive tasks, generating content, and providing real-time insights. Imagine drafting a report in Word or creating a complex spreadsheet in Excel with just a few prompts.
  2. Creative Assistance: Whether you’re brainstorming ideas, writing emails, or designing presentations, Copilot can assist you in generating innovative content. It can even help you create images and visual content, making your projects more engaging and visually appealing.
  3. Data Security and Privacy: Microsoft Copilot is built with enterprise-grade data security and privacy features, ensuring that your data is protected at all times. This makes it a reliable tool for organizations that prioritize data security.
  4. Customization and Integration: You can customize Copilot to suit your specific needs by integrating it with various plugins, connectors, and message extensions. This flexibility allows you to tailor the AI assistant to your unique workflow and business requirements.

Getting Started with Microsoft Copilot

To begin your journey with Microsoft Copilot, explore the curated training, documentation, videos, and other resources available on the Microsoft Learn Copilot page. Here are some steps to get you started:

  1. Understand Copilot: Learn how Copilot integrates with Microsoft platforms to provide a more interactive and efficient digital workspace.
  2. Adopt Copilot: Integrate OpenAI, communication, and organizational data into your apps to enhance their functionality.
  3. Extend Copilot: Expand and customize Copilot with plugins, connectors, or message extensions to meet your specific needs.
  4. Build Copilot: Create a personalized AI experience using Microsoft Cloud technologies.

Conclusion

Microsoft Copilot is more than just an AI assistant; it’s a powerful tool that can transform the way you work and create. By leveraging its advanced features, you can boost your productivity, enhance your creativity, and ensure your data’s security. Start exploring Microsoft Copilot today and unlock new possibilities for your professional and personal projects.