Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858 (Canary Channel)

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Hi all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27858 to the Canary Channel.

All smooth upgrades on my Canary Channel devices

The Surface Pro 10 decided to greenscreen during reboot just before downloading the new build, then upgraded without issues. Looks like it might be addressed in this update

Happy Upgrades!

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

  • We are trying out a new experience to improve the discoverability of the emoji and more panel in Windows 11 with the introduction of a new system tray icon on the taskbar. With this new system tray icon, you can easily express yourself by using emojis, GIFs, Kaomoji etc. across all apps and surfaces in Windows in addition to using the WIN + . keyboard shortcut which is also now shown on the emoji and more panel. This new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel shows can be changed by right-clicking on the icon to go to taskbar settings page.
The new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel highlighted with a red box.
The new system tray icon for the emoji and more panel highlighted with a red box.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to see a black screen when upgrading to the previous flight.
  • Fixed an issue causing text to disappear in places across the system after the previous flight.

[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.

[Desktop icons]

  • Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue where voice typing wouldn’t start from the touch keyboard when using the Chinese (Simplified) narrow layout.
  • Fixed a high hitting ctmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.

[Windowing]

  • Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts which could happen when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed an issue where the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.
  • Fixed an issue where when using Hebrew or Arabic as your display language, if you pressed WIN + T then arrow keys, focus through the taskbar icons would move in the opposite direction.

[Graphics]

  • Fixed an issue causing night light to not work for some Insiders after the latest flights.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing unexpected FPS caps for some Insiders in the previous flight.

[Network]

  • Mitigated an issue believed to be the cause of reports that wi-fi stopped working for some Insiders after the previous flight.

[Audio]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to MIDI devices not being recognized in recent Canary flights.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE after the previous flight.
  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED after the previous flight.
  • Fixed an issue where setting your desktop background to a JXR HDR wallpaper wasn’t working for extra wide format (21×9).

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”.
  • [NEW] You may see an Administrative Templates error message when opening Group Policy Editor. If you click OK, you should be able to proceed as normal.

[Input]

  • [NEW] Pen input may be non-responsive on some PCs that support pen for inking.

[Task Manager]

  • [ADDED] Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600 (Dev Channel)

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Hi all, last Monday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5600 (KB5058493) to the Dev Channel.

Great to see Entra ID support for Notepad and Paint is here, Paint on my Surface Laptop 7th Edition Intel offered to dowmload the Models to generate images

Resizing the store app is not displaying correctly on this build, when I dragg the edge or corner of the app to make it larger, part of the added size is transparrent (the faster you move the more the effect shows) (FeedBackHub: https://aka.ms/AAwaknl)

Partially Transparrent Window

Happy Upgrades!

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Intelligent text actions in Click to Do for AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs

We’re introducing more intelligent text actions to enhance your Click to Do experience even further on AMD and Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCsUse WIN key + mouse-click or WIN + Q to select a text block and then drag to select the text that you want. You’ll see options to SummarizeCreate a bulleted list, or to help you Rewrite your text, so it sounds more causal, more formal, or more polished.

More intelligent text actions in Click to Do with options to Summarize, Create a bulleted list, or Rewrite.
More intelligent text actions in Click to Do with options to Summarize, Create a bulleted list, or Rewrite.

Click to Do leverages the capabilities of Phi Silica, the on-device Small Language Model (SLM) that is built right into Windows. Results from our local model will show directly inline and if you’re happy with the rewrites you can copy them directly to your clipboard for use anywhere.

The intelligent text actions are available when your default language is set to English, at least 10 words are selected, and you’re signed in with either a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra account. 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.

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

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • ⁠For Windows Insiders using French or Spanish as their primary language on their PC, Click to Do will temporarily only provide Summarize, Create a bulleted list, Refine as intelligent text actions. Rewrite and its options, including Refine, will return in a future update.

[Dynamic Lighting]

  • Dynamic Lighting compatible devices can now be safely removed using the “Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media” taskbar icon.

[Settings]

  • The new agent in Settings experience is currently beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel first and once the right ML models are set up for the Dev Channel, we will begin rolling this experience out in the Dev Channel with a future flight.
  • We’re making it easy to find answers to common questions about your PC and Windows 11 with a dedicated FAQs section on the Settings > System > About page, providing quick and helpful insights for using your PC all in one place. Whether you’re curious about system configuration, performance, or compatibility, this experience ensures you get the information you need for the frequently asked questions for those topics. We hope these FAQs will help you make informed decisions about your PC with ease.
FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.
FAQ section highlighted in a red box on the About settings page.

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

[Start menu]

  • Fixed a few crashes impacting Start menu reliability for Insiders in recent flights.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed a deadlock which could occur when loading File Explorer Home, causing it to hang.
  • Fixed an issue where Shared by and Activity information was missing in the tooltip when hovering over recent documents in File Explorer Home.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause explorer.exe to crash when closing File Explorer.

[Voice Access]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing voice access crashes when using Spanish.

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed an issue where when using Tab and Shift + Tab to move keyboard focus around the taskbar, if you went backwards at least once you could get keyboard focus stuck on the taskbar frame, which would potentially lead screen readers to just say “pane”.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause the media controls in the preview windows for apps in the taskbar (that support it) to flicker.

[Windows Spotlight]

  • Fixed an issue where the Windows Spotlight flyout for “learn more about this picture” (when using it as your desktop background) might get stuck above other app windows.

[Live captions]

  • Fixed an issue causing live captions to crash in the previous build.

[Other]

  • Improved the colors used in MMC when items are selected, both generally, and when contrast modes are enabled.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could make some apps like Word hang when trying to print.

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 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
  • [NEW] The option to reset your PC under Settings > System > Recovery will not work on this build.

[Xbox Controllers]

  • Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.

[Recall (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
  • [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.

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

  • [NEW] Image actions may not show up in Click to Do.
  • [NEW] Windows Insiders on AMD or Intel™-powered Copilot+ PCs may experience long wait times on the first attempt to perform intelligent text actions in Click to Do after a new build or model update.
  • [NEW] For Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, Click to Do’s intelligent text actions may not offer support for Spanish or French.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

  • We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Narrator]

  • [NEW] We are investigating an issue where the richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC with Narrator do not work.

[Voice Access]

  • [NEW] We are investigating an issue where support for more descriptive and flexible language on Copilot+ PCs does not work as expected.

Entra ID support for AI features in Paint and Notepad

We are rolling out Entra ID support for AI features in Paint (version 11.2503.381.0 and higher) and Notepad (version 11.2503.16.0 and higher) to Windows Insiders on IT-managed PCs in the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels. This update enables commercial customers to access AI features that were previously limited to consumers. In Paint, Entra ID unlocks access to Cocreator, which generates images by combining a sketch and text prompt and Generative Fill, which adds new elements to selected areas of a canvas based on descriptive input. These tools help teams explore ideas visually and speed up creative workflows. In Notepad, Entra ID unlocks the ability to quickly summarize or rewrite text content.

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5581 (Dev Channel)

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Hi all, Monday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5581 (KB5055651) to the Dev Channel.

New Taskbar tweaks showing apps tahat need attention more clearly look great!

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

Energy saver now available in Microsoft Intune

We are bringing the ability to manage energy saver in Windows 11 to Microsoft Intune to allow IT administrators to control the energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and Mobile Device Management (MDM) configurations.

This feature, when enabled, intelligently balances your battery use, so it can last longer between charges. It extends battery life by managing power usage efficiently. It limits background activity and reduces screen brightness, ensuring that devices consume less power while maintaining optimal performance. By automatically managing system processes and power usage, the energy saver group policy helps reduce overall energy consumption. This not only saves costs but also contributes to environmental sustainability.

IT administrators can activate the policy by using either method below:

  • Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11
  • Microsoft Intune Admin Center
New group policy highlighted in a red box in Local Group Policy Editor.
New group policy highlighted in a red box in Local Group Policy Editor.

The path for the new policy configuration can be found at in Local Group Policy Editor by navigating to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settings and “Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On”.

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

[Recall (Preview)]

  • We’re trying out different treatments of the UI in Recall including trying out different locations for snapshot actions and the timeline.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.
Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.
Wider needy state pill UI showing for Microsoft Teams on the taskbar indicating the app needs attention.
  • Admins can now allow users to unpin specific pinned apps, ensuring they are not pinned again during the next policy refresh cycle. To enable this feature, use the new PinGeneration option. Learn more about configuring pinned apps on the taskbar.

[Graphics]

We’re introducing some improvements for managing HDR capabilities of your PC via under Settings > System > Display > HDR:

New HDR management settings highlighted in a red box.
New HDR management settings highlighted in a red box.
  • We have changed the wording for “Use HDR” inside display capabilities to improve clarity on supported media types.
  • On PCs with HDR displays, we have added the option to allow HDR video streaming even when HDR is off in settings.
  • On PCs with Dolby Vision displays, we have added the option to toggle Dolby Vision mode independently from HDR. You can now enjoy HDR with Dolby Vision either on or off based on your preference.

Learn more about HDR settings in Windows.

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

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing keyboard focus to get set to widgets in the taskbar on login, which could make widgets unexpectedly invoke.
  • Fixed an issue where WIN + CTRL + wasn’t working to cycle between windows of open apps for that position on the taskbar.

[Audio]

  • Fixed an issue which could cause the startup sound not to play, though it was enabled.

[Graphics]

  • Fixed an issue which could cause unexpected scaling and window position changes after sleep/resume for some devices.

[Windows Update]

  • Fixed an issue where after resetting your PC, taking subsequent cumulative updates may fail with error 0x800f081f.

Known issues

[General]

  • When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will no longer be offered Build 26200.5518 first and will be offered the most current available update in the Dev Channel.
  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
  • We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

  • Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.

[Live Captions]

  • [NEW] We’re investigating an issue where live captions is crashing on this build.

[Recall (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
  • [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.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

  • We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

source: Windows Blogs

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Staying Ahead with the New Windows Roadmap

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In the ever-evolving world of technology, staying updated with the latest features and improvements is crucial. Microsoft has recently launched the Windows Roadmap, a comprehensive guide designed to keep IT professionals and users informed about upcoming changes and enhancements in Windows 11.

What is the Windows Roadmap?

The Windows Roadmap is a transparent and detailed resource that provides insights into the future of Windows 11. It includes information on features that are currently available for validation in the Windows Insider Program, those that are gradually rolling out, and those that are generally available. This roadmap is a significant step towards increasing transparency and helping users manage changes effectively.

Key Features of the Windows Roadmap

  • Transparency and Clarity: The roadmap offers estimated release dates and descriptions for new features, ensuring users know what to expect and when.
  • Comprehensive Coverage: It covers various release channels and device types, including Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 PCs.
  • User Feedback Integration: Microsoft is actively seeking feedback to improve the roadmap, making it a dynamic and user-centric tool.

How to Use the Windows Roadmap

  • Explore New Features: Users can find detailed information on new features and improvements, including instructions on how to access them before they are enabled by default.
  • Stay Updated: The roadmap is regularly updated, ensuring that users have the latest information on Windows 11 enhancements.
  • Provide Feedback: Microsoft encourages users to share their suggestions and feedback to help refine the roadmap and expand its scope.

Why the Windows Roadmap Matters

For IT professionals and tech enthusiasts, the Windows Roadmap is an invaluable tool. It not only helps in planning and managing updates but also ensures that users can leverage the latest features to enhance productivity and security. By staying informed about upcoming changes, users can better prepare for transitions and make the most of new capabilities.

In conclusion, the Windows Roadmap is a game-changer for anyone looking to stay ahead in the tech world. With its detailed insights and user-centric approach, it promises to make navigating the future of Windows 11 a seamless experience.

https://aka.ms/WindowsRoadmap

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570 (Dev Channel)

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Hi all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5570 (KB5055632) to the Dev Channel.

No issues during updates on my Dev Channel Devices

Happy Upgrades!

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

New profanity filter setting for voice typing

We’re excited to address the top customer feedback for voice typing by starting to roll out a new setting that lets you control the profanity filter. With this setting on, voice typing will continue to filter out profanity, masking it with asterisks, like it already did. With the setting off, it will type out your profanity like any other words.

To adjust this setting, open voice typing (Win + H), select the settings icon, and use the Filter profanity toggle in the settings menu.

New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.
New filter profanity option in voice typing settings highlighted in a red box.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Voice Typing (Windows key plus H).

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

[Click to Do (Preview)]

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

  • If your PC supports pen and inking, you can configure the shortcut button (usually at the tail of your pen) to open Click to Do with a single-click, with a double-click, or by press and hold. You can configure this via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink.
Pen & Windows Ink settings page with option to point pen shortcut to Click to Do highlighted in a red box.
Pen & Windows Ink settings page with option to point pen shortcut to Click to Do highlighted in a red box.
  • Click to Do can also be added as 1 of the 4 apps you can launch via the pen menu when using a pen with your PC. If all 4 of the slots for the pen menu are configured with apps, you may need to swap out one of those apps with Click to Do via the pen menu settings.
Click to Do shown in the pen menu.
Click to Do shown in the pen menu.

[Improved Windows Search

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

  • 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 results shown in the Windows search box on the taskbar – not photos.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • We are improving Accessibility flyout in quick settings by grouping the assistive technologies by vision, hearing, motor and mobility for easy identification to help you find the right accessibility feature based on your needs.
New grouping by vision, hearing, motor and mobility in the Accessibility flyout in quick settings.
New grouping by vision, hearing, motor and mobility in the Accessibility flyout in quick settings.

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

[General]

  • Fixed an underlying issue causing apps to appear blank after installing the latest flights.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Click to Do on Copilot+ PCs:

  • Fixed the issue causing images that are used with Click to Do image actions to be stuck in your temp folder on your PC.

[Login and Lock]

  • Fixed an issue causing Windows Hello facial recognition to not work for login for some Insiders after the last two flights.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue where when using the Symbols section of the touch keyboard, pressing the key to change pages may unexpectedly insert a character into password fields.
  • Fixed an issue where toggling back and forth to the Japanese touch keyboard could block input on it.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue where hovering over the cards at the top of System > About wasn’t showing the correct corner radius.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing Quick Assist to not work for non-administrator users (showing error 1002).
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing certain apps to fail to open with an error saying, “The application was unable to load a required virtual machine component”.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to certain USB devices becoming disconnected after sleep, until you rebooted your PC.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

  • We fixed the issue that caused Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to not work and the option “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery to also not work. If you experience any issues with these experiences, please file feedback in Feedback Hub.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT]When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5518 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
  • Windows Sandbox may fail to launch with a 0x800705b4 error. If you hit this, you can try reinstalling Sandbox by unchecking Sandbox under “Turn Windows features on or off” to uninstall it then reboot, go back to “Turn Windows features on or off” and check Sandbox to reinstall it and reboot again.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating an issue where core Windows surfaces are not able to load in safe mode (File Explorer, Start menu, and others) after the previous flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

  • [NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.

[Recall (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
  • [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.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Start menu]

  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that clicking your profile picture isn’t opening the Account Manager for some Insiders after the last flight.

[Task Manager]

  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842 (Canary Channel)

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Hi all, Last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27842 to the Canary Channel.

ISOs for Build 27842 – download here.

Been a while but here’s a new Canary Build, smooth update on all my Canary devices except for my Surface Pro 10, after the upgrade phase the device was turned off, starting it ran into the GSOD picture below after which it started nicely updated to the new build.

Happy Upgrades!

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • The improved battery iconography in Windows 11 may disappear for Windows Insiders in the current flights. We’re beginning to re-roll this change out to Windows Insiders.
  • We’re previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is currently rolling out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.
The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.

[Windows Security]

  • We are beginning to roll out (again) a change in the Windows Security app where will show more details such as manufacturer and manufacturer version for Pluton TPM chips if your PC has one under Device security > Security processor details.

[Input]

  • [ADDED] As part of our ongoing work to improve our settings experiences, we’re starting to make more mouse related settings available directly under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch without needing to go into Control Panel. This includes the settings for mouse indicator, mouse pointer trails, and further mouse behavior and pointer customization. As part of this work, we have also added the ability to adjust the amount of time needed to hover over a window to activate it, if you have activated on hover enabled. Finally, we updated the icon used for Mouse pointer speed in Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse and added an icon to the Enhance mouse pointer precision option.
  • [ADDED] We’re updating the Bluetooth & Devices > Pen and Windows Ink, and Bluetooth & Devices > Touch pages in Settings to have options if you want press and hold for pen or touch to perform a right click action.

[Other]

  • Support for the Visual Studio Graphics Analyzer’s shader debugging feature is being removed. In this build, attempting to use it may crash Visual Studio or the analysis session. It is recommended that customers use alternative graphics debuggers such as PIX for D3D12 or RenderDoc.
  • We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed the issue causing the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update to not render correctly and automatically turn off by itself.
  • Fixed an issue in the latest builds causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR doing various actions on their PC.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • Fixed an issue impacting explorer.exe reliability in the latest builds.
  • Fixed an issue where when using Hebrew or Arabic as your display language, if you pressed WIN + T then arrow keys, focus through the taskbar icons would move in the opposite direction.

[Administrator Protection]

  • Fixed an issue which could cause lsass.exe to unexpectedly use a lot of CPU impacting performance after enabling Administrator Protection.

[Input]

  • Fixed a high hitting ctfmon.exe crash, which could impact the ability to type.
  • Fixed an issue in the latest builds causing DWM to crash when inking (which could lead to you seeing a black screen flash).

[Login and Lock]

  • Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Windows Security]

  • Fixed an issue where the Smart App Control icon wasn’t displaying correctly in the Windows Security app.

[Display and Graphics]

  • Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.
  • Fixed an issue where some JPG images weren’t displaying, although they could display correctly on older builds.
  • Fixed an issue where you might need to press the Windows key plus P twice in order to switch topologies.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue where the IP Helper Service was failing to start in the latest builds. This may have caused issues with some apps.
  • Fixed an issue causing midisrv.exe crashes in the latest builds.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing the Run dialog to not show an autocomplete dropdown if you started typing a file path.

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”.
  • [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue causing night light to not work for some Insiders after the latest flight.

[Xbox Controllers]

  • [NEW] Some Insiders are experiencing an issue where using their Xbox Controller via Bluetooth is causing their PC to bugcheck. Here is how to resolve the issue. Open Device Manager by searching for it via the search box on your taskbar. Once Device Manager is open, click on “View” and then “Devices by Driver”. Find the driver named “oemXXX.inf (XboxGameControllerDriver.inf)” where the “XXX” will be a specific number on your PC. Right-click on that driver and click “Uninstall”.

[Taskbar]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551 (Dev Channel)

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Hi all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5551 (KB5055617) to the Dev Channel.

Smooth updates here, stubled upon this issue, now also possible to repro in non-insider builds:

repro steps:
enable launching restartable apps at sign in (settings / accounts / Sign-in options / Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in)
open mobility center & enable presentation mode
restart the device
actual results: pressing the enter key opens control panel at power options until presentation settings is turned off/on
expected results: enter key press works normally

Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAvnuw3

Happy Upgrades!!

New Copilot+ PC experiences

Find the settings you want more easily with the Windows search box

As part of improving Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, we’re beginning to roll out the ability to type a setting you’re looking for in the Windows search box on your taskbar without needing to remember the exact setting name. For example, you can use your own words to find settings like “change my theme” or “about my PC”. You no longer need to remember the exact setting name you are looking for. 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. You can learn more about semantic search on Copilot + PCs here.

Windows search box on the taskbar showing a semantic settings search.
Windows search box on the taskbar showing a semantic settings search.

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

Making visual content more accessible with image descriptions in Narrator

We are enhancing digital accessibility with the ability to get rich, detailed descriptions of images, charts, graphs in Narrator by using the power of AI on Copilot+ PCs. In today’s digital world, images are everywhere—on websites, apps, and documents. But for blind and low-vision users, many of these visuals remain inaccessible due to missing or inadequate alt text.

With this new feature that is beginning to roll out, Narrator will now generate more richer image descriptions on your Copilot+ PC. Simply press Narrator key + Ctrl + D and Narrator will read out a contextual description of the image describing people, objects, colours, text, and numbers from the image. On non-Copilot+ PCs, this experience will continue to give you very basic image descriptions.

For example, for an image about stock performance, users will get the following detailed description. The image is a graph showing the stock prices of Microsoft Corporation, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Computer indexes. The graph shows a steady increase in Microsoft’s stock price over the period from June 18th to June 23rd.

Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.
Screenshot of Edge browser containing an image of “stock performance graph” with “Describe image” window open next to it showing the description of the image.

The window also contains regenerate, like, dislike and copy button at the bottom.

Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.
Screenshot of Edge browser with Narrator’s focus on an image of graph. There’s an info bar on top of the screen which says, “We are setting up image description feature. Keep your PC connected to internet and check back soon.” along with a “Check status” button.

This feature is currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs coming soon. To turn Narrator on, you can press “Ctrl + Windows key + Enter” on your PC or search for “Narrator” in Windows search box. When you try the image descriptions feature for the first time using Narrator Key + Ctrl + D, we download the models required for getting image descriptions. You can check the download status via Settings > Windows update.

If you are new to Narrator, you can find more information and learn about using Narrator from the  complete guide to Narrator.

Also check out frequently asked questions about rich image descriptions in Narrator here.

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

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

[Widgets]

  • We are trying out the ability to read content such as full articles, slideshows, and videos directly within your MSN feed in the widgets board in Windows 11. Try it out and let us know what you think by using the feedback button at the top of your widgets board. As a reminder, you can manage whether your MSN feed is shown in the widgets board or not directly within the widget settings. We are beginning to roll this change out to Windows Insiders across all channels.
Full article shown directly in the MSN feed in the widgets board.
Full article shown directly in the MSN feed in the widgets board.

The following improvements are for Windows Insiders in the European Economic Area (EEA) with the new lock screen widgets experience (previously referred to as “Weather and more”):

  • There are some new updates to the new Widgets on Lock experience. In addition to accessibility and craftsmanship improvements, the Lock screen weather widget now supports customization. To configure your weather widget, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and click the “Customize widget” option from the weather widget more options menu. More widgets will be customizable in the future.

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

[Recall (Preview)]

The following fixes are rolling out for Recall on Copilot+ PCs:

  • Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when adding an app to filter on under Privacy & Security > Recall & Snapshots.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders after the latest flights.
  • Fixed an issue where the Organize and New Folder options might not be visible in the Save Dialog when using dark mode.

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing app icons in the taskbar to become unexpectedly oversized in recent flights after disconnecting from an external display and some other cases.

[Desktop icons]

  • Updated the logic for apps pinned to the desktop, so that packaged apps no longer show an accent colored backplate (for example, if you were to drag and drop Snipping Tool from the apps list in Start to the desktop). In doing this, the icons should be bigger and easier to see now. Please note, you may need to create new shortcuts for this to take effect, if you already have something on your desktop.

[Input]

  • If your touchpad wasn’t working with the previous flight, that should be resolved now.

[Graphics]

  • Fixed an issue where when using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
  • Fixed an issue where some JPG images weren’t displaying, although they could display correctly on older builds.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

  • We fixed the issue causing Windows Sandbox to not work in the last flight.

Known issues

[General]

  • [IMPORTANT] When joining the Dev Channel on Windows 11, version 24H2 – you will be offered Build 26200.5518 After installing that update, you will be offered the most recent update available. This 2-hop experience to get onto the latest 24H2-based flight in the Dev Channel is just temporary.
  • After you do a PC reset under Settings > System > Recovery, your build version may incorrectly show as Build 26100 instead of Build 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
  • Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
  • [NEW] After installing this update, Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) may not work, and you may not be able to use the “Fix problems using Windows Update” option under Settings > Recovery. These issues will be fixed in another update soon.
  • [NEW] Some apps may appear blank after installing this update. Closing and re-launching the app may correct the issue.
  • [NEW] Some apps like Spotify may fail to launch after installing this update. If you uninstall the update, these apps should launch again. We’re working on a fix. Be sure to file feedback if you hit this before uninstalling the update!

[Recall (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] You are always in control and can always choose to remove Recall anytime via “Turn Windows features on or off”. Removing Recall will delete entry points and binaries. Like any feature, Windows sometimes keeps temporary copies of binaries for serviceability. These Recall binaries are not executable and are eventually removed over time.
  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

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

  • 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.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
  • [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.

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

  • In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
  • There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
  • We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is incorrectly showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. If you happen to see this on your non-Copilot+ PC, please file feedback in Feedback Hub and let us know.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[Task Manager]

  • [NEW] Search and other options such as filtering in Task Manager does not work.
  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518 (Dev Channel)

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Hi all, Last Thuesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5518 (KB5055625) to the Dev Channel.

A small jump in buildnumber, but some nice tweaks in this build, rolling out gradually, smaller taskbar icons always or automatically when taskbar is full is a nice option to have.

Happy Upgrades!

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

Taskbar icon scaling

We are starting to roll out taskbar icon scaling to Windows Insiders – an improvement to the Windows taskbar that ensures that you have quick access to more of your favorite apps, even when your taskbar is full. With taskbar icon scaling, when your taskbar starts to get crowded with pinned or open apps, the icons will automatically scale down to a smaller size. This means you can keep more apps visible and accessible without the need to dive into a secondary menu. It’s all about making your workflow smoother and more efficient.

The taskbar with small taskbar icons
The taskbar with standard taskbar icons

We understand that everyone has their own preferences, so we’ve included settings to tailor this feature to your liking. You can choose when Windows will show smaller taskbar buttons:

  • When taskbar is full: By default, taskbar icons will automatically turn smaller when the taskbar is full. This helps you maintain access to more apps without any extra effort.
  • Never: For users who prefer their icons to remain the same size as before, regardless of how many apps are open, there’s an option to prevent the icons from scaling down.
  • Always: If you love the look of smaller icons and want them to stay that way all the time, you can set your taskbar icons to always be small.

To customize your taskbar icon scaling settings, simply right-click an empty region of your taskbar and select “Taskbar settings”, expand “Taskbar behaviors” section, and make your selection for the setting “Show smaller taskbar buttons”.

As always, we value your feedback, so let us know what you think!

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

Making sharing files in Windows easier

Sharing files in Windows is getting a lot easier and quicker with our new drag tray feature. When you start dragging a local file with mouse (or touch) from File Explorer or your desktop, a handy tray appears at the very top of your screen allowing you to drop the file into one of the displayed apps or choose “More…”  to open the Windows share window.

New drag tray UI that appears at the top of your screen when dragging a local file from File Explorer or your desktop.

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

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

[General]

[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 are trying out a basic search history feature in Recall.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

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

  • Ask Copilot is a new action within Click to Do. When you highlight either text or image with Click to Do, you’re given an option to Ask CopilotMicrosoft Copilot opens with your content in the prompt box. You can send selected text or image within Click to Do Directly to Copilot app. The selected text or image is handed off to the Copilot app where you can complete your prompt. This feature is not available in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can learn more about this Click to Do here..
Click to Do with Microsoft Edge showing Ask Copilot option in the Click to Do menu.
Click to Do with Microsoft Edge showing Ask Copilot option in the Click to Do menu.
  • You can now swipe using touch from the right of your screen to invoke Click to Do on your Copilot+ PC. You can adjust this experience back to notifications if you want via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touch.

[Studio Effects]

  • [ADDED] For Windows Insiders on PCs that support Studio Effects, if you have not used Studio Effects before, we are automatically enabling the automatic framing filter, and a notification toast will pop up letting you know about this when you first use the video camera. You can easily turn it off via Studio Effects in quick settings (Win + A) on your taskbar. 

[Input]

  • As part of our ongoing work to improve our settings experiences, we’re starting to make more mouse related settings available directly under Settings > Accessibility > Mouse and Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch without needing to go into Control Panel. This includes the settings for mouse indicator, mouse pointer trails, and further mouse behavior and pointer customization. As part of this work, we have also added the ability to adjust the amount of time needed to hover over a window to activate it, if you have activated on hover enabled. Finally, we updated the icon used for Mouse pointer speed in Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse and added an icon to the Enhance mouse pointer precision option.
  • We’re updating the Bluetooth & Devices > Pen and Windows Ink, and Bluetooth & Devices > Touch pages in Settings to have options if you want press and hold for pen or touch to perform a right click action.

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

[Improved Windows Search]

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

  • Fixed an issue which was causing semantic search to stop working for some Insiders (until you reboot your PC).

[Graphics]

  • Fixed an issue where external graphics cards connected over Thunderbolt were unexpectedly not discoverable in some cases.

[Hyper-V]

  • Fixed an issue where Hyper-V Manager may erroneously report 0% CPU usage for VMs in some scenarios.

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 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Beta Channel updates, which will resolve this issue.
  • [NEW] Quick Assist will not work for non-administrator users.
  • [NEW] Windows Sandbox will not work in this build or is available to be installed. This is fixed in the next flight.

[Recall (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

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

  • 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.
  • 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.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

  • [REMINDER] The intelligent text actions are now locally moderated to ensure the safety of prompts and responses and has replaced the cloud endpoint. Now that these intelligent text actions are fully local, they are also available in Click to Do in Recall.
  • [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.

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

  • [NEW] In small cases, Click to Do may fail to launch. Trying again should get Click to Do to launch.
  • [NEW] There is an issue where images that are used with Click to Do image actions are stuck in your temp folder on your PC. This issue will be fixed in the next flight. You can manually clear your temp folder under C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Temp.
  • [ADDED 4/4] We’re investigating reports that the Click to Do icon is showing up on non-Copilot+ PCs. 

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

source: Windows Blogs

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (Dev Channel)

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Hello all, last Friday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5516 (KB5054687) to the Dev Channel.

A second on-campus flight, somehow flighting on campus always feels special, this build fixed Recall on my Surface Laptop 7th Edition with Intel Core Ultra 2 (Feedback Hub : https://aka.ms/AAvdool) where recall wouldn’t start due to model update missing

The new GSOD looks very nice!

Happy Upgrades!

Improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs

Local Semantic Search

We are making finding your documents, photos, and settings across Windows 11 easier on AMD and Intel®-powered 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.

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.

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 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.

Find photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search

We are also announcing support for also finding photos saved in the cloud with improved Windows Search for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs. 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 or also in the Windows search box. 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 one from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.
Results including mountain bike photos one from the cloud in File Explorer with improved Windows Search.

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 Copilot+ PCs, including finding photos saved in the cloud, so you may not see these experiences right away.

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

Introducing speech recap in Narrator

 We are always working to make Narrator more intuitive, efficient, and helpful for users who rely on it every day. With that in mind, we are introducing a new feature—speech recap —designed to help you keep track of what Narrator has spoken and access it for quick reference.  With speech recap, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription, and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.

The new speech recap window in Narrator.
The new speech recap window in Narrator.

You can open the speech recap window with Narrator key + Alt + X and can find the last 500 strings Narrator had spoken. Note that we refresh the text in this window every time Narrator starts. You can use standard reading commands and arrow keys to read the contents in speech recap window and copy text required for reference.

Need to save or share something Narrator just said last? You can copy it instantly without opening the speech recap window. Use Narrator key + Control + X to copy the last spoken phrase to your clipboard.

Few scenarios where you can use speech recap and related shortcuts include referring to a hint you heard when opening a new window, copying an error code that was spoken or adding Narrator speech to training materials.

Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.
Narrator’s speech recap window snapped to the right corner of screen showing real-time transcriptions.

Live transcription of Narrator speech is useful for Assistive Technology (AT) trainers, teacher of students with visual impairments (TSVI) who support students in class and for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator. To see live transcription of Narrator audio, use the same command Narrator key + Alt + X to open the speech recap window and snap it to the portion of the screen you want to view it. As you do tasks, you can see real-time transcriptions of Narrator speech.

These keyboard shortcuts follow a simple patten making it easy to learn:

  • Control + Windows key + Enter = Turn Narrator on/Off
  • Narrator key + X = Re-hear what Narrator said last
  • Narrator key + control + X = Copy what Narrator said last
  • Narrator key + Alt + X = Open Speech recap window for history and live transcriptions

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

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

[General]

  • We’re previewing a new, more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible. We’ve simplified your experience while preserving the technical information on the screen. As a reminder, for Windows Insiders this appears as a “green screen”. This is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders on Windows 11, version 24H2 and higher in the Beta, Dev, and Canary Channels.
The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.
The updated UI for unexpected restarts for Windows Insiders on preview builds.

[Copilot on Windows]

  • You can now launch Copilot on Windows with Win + C. You can personalize your Copilot key and Win + C experience at any time with the existing “Customize Copilot key on keyboard” under Settings > Personalization > Text input.
  • To access the press to talk feature and start a conversation with Copilot on Windows, press and hold the Copilot key for 2 seconds. For PCs without the Copilot key, press and hold Win + C for 2 seconds. To end your conversation, press the Esc key. If there is no speaking for several seconds, Copilot will automatically end the conversation. When the conversation is over, the microphone on the screen will disappear. As announced previously, you can also press and hold Alt + Spacebar to talk with Copilot on Windows. Press to talk allows you to interact with Copilot using your voice, providing instant responses while staying in your current workflow and continuing tasks without interruption. Press to talk is supported in the latest Copilot app update (version 1.25033.139.0 and higher). This update is beginning to roll out across Insider Channels via the Microsoft Store.
  • Developers can get the same trigger for press to talk for their apps that support the Copilot key by using Handle Microsoft Copilot hardware key state changes. Note, the enterprise-focused Microsoft 365 Copilot app does not have this support today.
  • Win + C and press to talk are gradually rolling out so not all Insiders will get the update right away. We are excited to be previewing improvements with our Insiders to ensure all our customers have a great Copilot experience for Windows.

[Click to Do (Preview)]

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

  • On your Copilot+ PCs, you can now access Click to Do from the Start menu including the ability to pin it to Start and your taskbar.
Click to Do on the Start menu All list highlighted in a red box.
Click to Do on the Start menu All list highlighted in a red box.
  • Click to Do can now perform intelligent text actions in Spanish and French in addition to English. We will continue to roll out support for additional languages in future updates. Text actions are currently available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
  • Click to Do has a text action to create a bulleted list. Currently available in English, Spanish, and French and on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs and coming soon for AMD and Intel®-powered Copilot+ PCs.
  • We are providing policies for managing Click to Do in a commercial environment. IT admins can learn more here.

[Windows Share]

  • When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content.
Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.
Visual preview of links and web content in the Windows share window.
  • In the Windows share window, we are adding the ability to quickly edit and enhance images while sharing. This includes in-line image editing capabilities, such as cropping, rotating, and applying filters, as well as the ability to compress images to reduce file size for easier sharing. This ability works only for local images stored on your PC. Supported image formats: .jpg, .jpeg, .dib, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .bmp.
New edit button in the Windows share window when sharing local images.
New edit button in the Windows share window when sharing local images.
The image editing experience from the Windows share window with a picture of the dog Kilo.
The image editing experience from the Windows share window with a picture of the dog Kilo.

[Other]

  • We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

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

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed an issue where the taskbar icons weren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

[File Explorer]

  • Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly in the case where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.
  • Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to be very slow to close for some Insiders when closing using the X button. This may also have impacted the other title bar buttons.
  • Fixed an issue where if the search indexer was hung, it could lead to File Explorer also hanging.
  • Fixed an issue where the date for files and folders in Home may be unexpectedly blank.
  • Fixed an issue which was impacting File Explorer launch reliability.
  • Fixed an issue where if you had disconnected network drives when doing a search from Home it might prevent searches from executing and you’d remain on Home.
  • Fixed an issue causing File Explorer to crash when moving or renaming certain files.

[Login and Lock]

  • Updated the web sign-in icon slightly to better align with the other icons when selecting a sign in option on the login screen.

[Windowing]

  • Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to snap layouts which could happen when dragging a window or hovering over the maximize button in a window.

[Windows Update]

  • Fixed an issue which could result in you seeing a message asking for you to reboot to install a cumulative update that was already installed.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue causing the navigation pane entries to not be aligned correctly in the previous flight.
  • Fixed an issue causing Settings to crash for some Insiders when going to System > Power & Battery in the latest flights.
  • Fixed an issue where text in the Advanced Camera Options in Bluetooth & devices > Cameras might not load correctly.

Fixes for everyone in the Dev Channel

[General]

  • Fixed the issue causing the toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update to not render correctly and is automatically turned off by itself.

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 26200. This will not prevent you from getting future Dev Channel updates which will resolve this issue.

[Recall]

  • [REMINDER] Make sure you update Microsoft 365 apps to the latest version so you can jump back into specific documents.

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

  • 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.
  • 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.

[Click to Do]

  • [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.
  • [REMINDER] 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.

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.

[Improved Windows Search]

  • [REMINDER] For improved Windows Search on Copilot+ PCs, it is recommended that you plug in your Copilot+ PC for the initial search indexing to get completed. You can check your search indexing status under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue causing File Explorer Home to crash for some Insiders. If you launch File Explorer to a different folder (for example, using search or the Run dialog), you should be able to navigate your folders.

[Task Manager]

  • After adding the new CPU Utility column, you may notice that System Idle Process always shows as 0.
  • The CPU graphs in the Performance page are still using the old CPU utility calculations.

[Widgets]

source: Windows Blog

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Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823 (Canary Channel)

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Hi all, last Wednesday Microsoft relesed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27823 to the Canary Channel.

Flighting a new flight from Redmond Campus alsways feels a bit special, some nice tweaks in thos build.

Glad to see the OneNote printer issue fixed

Happy Upgrades!

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.

[Settings]

  • [ADDED] We are rolling out “top cards” under Settings > System > About. These top cards provide an easy way to view your PC’s key specifications—processor, RAM, storage, and GPU—helping you understand your PC’s capabilities at a glance. This is designed to simplify decision-making by highlighting potential areas for hardware improvements while giving you a clear snapshot of your PC. Top Cards won’t appear yet on managed commercial PCs. Note this change appears only on specific PC form-factors such as desktops.

Fixes

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where File Explorer might be blank and not render if you ALT + Tab to it from a minimized state in the latest Canary builds.
  • Fixed an issue where the see more menu “…” in the command bar was drawing in the wrong direction at some resolutions.
  • 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.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue which could cause a ctfmon.exe crash when copying content from certain apps.
  • Fixed an issue where GetRawInputData was unexpectedly failing to read data in some cases, with lastWin32Errror invalid handle error.

[Login and Lock]

  • Fixed an issue where clicking Sign in Options was crashing for some Insiders.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue which could cause Settings to crash when interacting with Bluetooth & Devices > Cameras.
  • Fixed an issue causing some unexpected space at the top of System > Sound, and some other Settings pages.

[Printing]

  • Fixed an issue where non-admin users couldn’t uninstall printers that they’d added.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly see a message saying a Send to OneNote driver for printing wasn’t working.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing certain apps to fail to install in Builds 27813+.
  • Fixed an underlying issue which was causing some Insiders to unexpectedly get bugchecks with UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR when upgrading or clean installing the latest builds.
  • Fixed an issue where when using CopyPixels the pixels may be unexpectedly inverted in certain cases.
  • Fixed an issue in the latest Canary builds where traffic routing might not work correctly when network adapters were connected.

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”.
  • [NEW] The toggle to get the latest updates as they are available via Settings > Windows Update is not rendering correctly and gets turned off by itself. This is just a visual issue and will be fixed in a future flight soon.

[Taskbar]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where the taskbar icons aren’t increasing in size as they should when using your PC in a tablet posture.

source: Windows Blogs

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