Microsoft is kicking off 2023 with two new Windows 11 beta channel builds. As always, there are separate builds, one for those who have new features rolling out, and one for those who have new features off by default. Build 22623.1095 is for those with new features, and build 22621.1095 is for those with new features disabled. Both are getting a new Start Menu search box that's more rounded. Otherwise, it's just the usual bug fixes.
Looking at what's new and changed in both releases, there's the new search box design in the Start Menu. You'll see that it now has more rounded corners, to better reflect the design of the search box on the taskbar. In previous versions of Windows 11, it was square.
See below for the fixes in both of these builds. Note these cover the Taskbar, the way .NET Framework updates work, and some .exe processes that either stopped working or weren't responding.
- We’ve made improvements to reliability to fix some crashes and the performance of animations and transitions.
- We fixed the issue causing the search box on taskbar to not render correctly and display visual artifacts.
- We fixed the issue causing layout issues with right-to-left display languages like Arabic.
- New! We changed the experience for preview .NET Framework updates. After you installed this update, all future preview (optional) .NET Framework updates would display on the Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates On that page, you could control which optional updates you wanted to install.
- We fixed an issue that affected Windows Server 2022 domain controllers (DC). They stopped responding when they handled Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) requests.
- We fixed an issue that might have occurred when the Input Method Editor (IME) was active. Applications might have stopped responding when you used the mouse and keyboard at the same time.
- We fixed an issue that affected conhostexe. It stopped responding.
- We fixed an issue that affected how fast you could copy items from a network to a local computer. For some users, the copy speed was slower than expected.
- We fixed an issue that affected certain systems that had firmware Trusted Platform Modules. (TPM). This issue stopped you from using AutoPilot to set up those systems.
- We fixed a resource conflict issue between two or more threads (known as a deadlock). This deadlock affected COM+ applications.
- We fixed an issue that affected devices that were subject to Microsoft Exploit Protection Export Address Filtering (EAF). Some applications stopped responding or did not open. These included Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader.
- We fixed an issue that affected searchindixerexe. It randomly stopped you from signing in or signing out.
- We fixed an issue that might have occurred when you converted or reconverted Japanese Kanji using a multibyte character set (MBCS) app. The cursor might have moved to the wrong location when you typed.
- We fixed an issue that affected mstcexe. It stopped responding while connecting to a RemoteApp and Desktop Connection.
- We fixed an issue that might have affected FindWindow() or FindWindowEx(). They might have returned the wrong window handle.
- We fixed an issue that affected picture files you found using search on the taskbar. This issue stopped you from opening those pictures.
As for what's changed in build 22623.1095, which is for those who are getting new features, there are some tweaks for issues with the Taskbar and System Tray, Start Menu, and Task Manager. You can see all of these below. Again, it's a good set of fixes, designed to help improve the day-to-day use of these builds.
- Fixed a couple issues which could result in the top half of the taskbar getting clipped.
- Fixed an issue where the uninstall app dialog might not display correctly in the Start menu in certain cases, making the buttons inaccessible.
- Fixed an issue causing filtering by publisher name to not match correctly on the Processes page.
- Fixed an issue causing some services to not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
- Fixed an issue which resulted in new processes appearing in a filtered list if launched while a filter is set.
- We fixed the issue where some dialogs were not rendering in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
- The issue causing the data content area of the Processes page to flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page is fixed.
- The Startup apps page in Task manager will now list apps as expected.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a black flash when opening Task Manager.
- If there are no matching search results, Task Manager will now explicitly say that.
- Fixed a Task Manager crash that could happen when attempting to end certain processes.
- You can now set focus to the search box by pressing CTRL + F.
That's all the action for this week from the Beta channel. Microsoft also released a new Dev Channel build, too. That one is fairly minor with no new big changes and the usual bug fixes. As always, you'll find these new builds waiting for you in Windows Update.
Source: Microsoft