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Microsoft is rolling out the optional April preview update to Windows 11 22H2 users. This month's release, which (as usual) will become available to everyone in a few more weeks as a monthly security patch, has a few tweaks. You'll notice some changes to the Widgets experience, as well as some new toggle controls on the Windows update page. We got all the details for you right here if you're preparing of if you've already downloaded it.
On the Widgets experience, Microsoft has added animations to a few icons in the Widgets taskbar button. The animations will appear if there's a new announcement on the Widgets taskbar button, or if you hover over or click the Widgets taskbar button.
Other than that, Microsoft also added a new toggle control on the Settings > Windows Update page. From here, when this toggle is enabled, your device will be prioritized to get the latest non-security updates and enhancements when they are available. This doesn't impact regular security updates, which you'll get as usual. It's only for how quickly you'll get feature updates and other improvements. If you're wondering, the other improvements in this release are below.
This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. Pop-up windows open in the background instead of in the foreground.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Chinese input method. You cannot see all of the first suggested item.
New!This update changes firewall settings. You can now configure application group rules.
This update affects the Islamic Republic of Iran. The update supports the government’s daylight saving time change order from 2022.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process. It might stop responding. Because of this, the machine restarts. The error is 0xc0000005 (STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION).
This update addresses an issue that affects Microsoft Edge IE mode. The Tab Window Manager stops responding.
This update addresses an issue that affects protected content. When you minimize a window that has protected content, the content displays when it should not. This occurs when you are using Taskbar Thumbnail Live Preview.
This update addresses an issue that affects mobile device management (MDM) customers. The issue stops you from printing. This occurs because of an exception.
This update changes the app icons for certain mobile providers.
This update addresses an issue that affects signed Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) policies. They are not applied to the Secure Kernel. This occurs when you enable Secure Boot.
This update addresses an issue that displays Task View in the wrong area. This occurs when you close a full screen game by pressing Win+Tab.
This update addresses an issue that occurs when you use a PIN to sign in to Windows Hello for Business. Signing in to Remote Desktop Services might fail. The error message is, "The request is not supported".
This update addresses an issue that affects Administrator Account Lockout policies. GPResult and Resultant Set of Policy did not report them.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Unified Write Filter (UWF). When you turn it off by using a call to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), your device might stop responding.
This update addresses an issue that affects the Resilient File System (ReFS). A stop error occurs that stops the OS from starting up correctly.
This update addresses an issue that affects MySQL commands. The commands fail on Windows Xenon containers.
This update addresses an issue that affects SMB Direct. Endpoints might not be available on systems that use multi-byte character sets.
This update addresses an issue that affects apps that use DirectX on older Intel graphics drivers. You might receive an error from apphelp.dll.
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That's all! Alongside this update, the Windows 11 servicing stack has also been bumped to 22621.1626. It brings two known issues with provisioning packages, and copying large multiple GB files when copying from a network share via Server Block message. Both of these issues are for IT admins and are not consumer-facing problems.
You can get this update today by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Since this is an optional preview, you'll want to click the Optional updates available area to install it.
