Microsoft has released Windows 11 build 22621.1776 (KB5026446) to the Release Preview channel for those running Windows 11 22H2. This is one of the biggest builds in recent times, delivering a whopping 20 new features or improvements. There's plenty to play with in this new release, though some of the new features will be rolling out gradually. If you're interested in getting new features like live captions in more languages, seconds in the clock in the system tray, and everything else we're highlighting in this post, you can turn on the toggle Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.
You might have noticed, but we're splitting this post into three. The big news is the Windows 11 22H2 Release Preview channel build, but there's a separate Release Preview build for those on the original version of Windows 11. And, we can't forget Windows 10, either, which also got a Release Preview build, though it is less huge.
All the new features in Windows 11 22H2 Build 22621.1776 (KB5026446)
Technically, a lot of these new features in this fresh Windows 11 22H2 Release Preview channel build have previously been in testing with the other branches of the Windows Insider program. But since they're now here in Release Preview, you can consider this a preview of the incoming "Moment 3" update, even though Microsoft hasn't said so.
Leading the list is live caption support in new languages like Chinese, French, and German. There's also a redesigned in-app voice access command help page where the search bar can help you find quick commands. Other highlights can be seen below, ranging from tweaks to voice access commands, text selection in voice access, a VPN status icon, key access shortcuts on the File Explorer, and more.
-This update redesigns the in-app voice access command help page. Every command now has a description and examples of its variations. The search bar allows you to quickly find commands.
- You can now choose to display seconds in the clock on the system tray. To turn this on, go to the Taskbar behaviors section in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. You can also right-click taskbar to quickly get to taskbar settings.
- This update provides a copy button for you to quickly copy two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. These are in notification toasts you get from apps installed on your PC or from phones linked to your PC. Note that this feature only works for English.
-This update provides a copy button for you to quickly copy two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. These are in notification toasts you get from apps installed on your PC or from phones linked to your PC. Note that this feature only works for English.
-This update adds multi-app kiosk mode, which is a lockdown feature. If you are an administrator, you can specify the apps that can run on a device
- This update introduces live kernel memory dump (LKD) collection from Task Manager. Using LKD, you can gather data to troubleshoot an issue while the OS continues to work.
- This update replaces the settings for Show the touch keyboard when there’s no keyboard attached. These are located at Settings > Time & language > Typing > Touch keyboard. A new dropdown menu gives you three options to control whether tapping an edit control should open the touch keyboard.
- This update enables Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) to run on laptops and 2-in-1 devices
- This update adds a USB4 hubs and devices Settings page. You can find it at Settings > Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 Hubs and Devices.
- This update adds a presence sensor privacy setting in Settings > Privacy & security > Presence sensing.
- This update improves the performance of search within Settings.
- This update changes the default print screen (prt scr) key behavior. Pressing the print screen key opens the Snipping Tool by default.
- This update introduces a limit of 20 most recent tabs in Settings > Multitasking.
- This update improves the cloud suggestion and the integrated search suggestion.
Other than that top feature, Microsoft is also testing some tweaks for Widgets. Some Windows Insiders will have a new widget picker experience as well. This has been in testing for a while, but it's a great new way to preview a widget before you add it to your Widgets board. Note that some additional, security fixes and other tweaks in this release are below as well. These are all small, but still important for the security of Windows.
- New! This update provides the full amount of storage capacity of all your OneDrive subscriptions. It also displays the total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. It now announces text attributes correctly for words, such as “misspelled”, “deletion change,” and “comment”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects exe. It stops working after you sign out. This issue occurs after you upgrade your machine to Windows 11 Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and sign in to that machine.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Server Message Block (SMB). You cannot access the SMB shared folder. The errors are, “Not enough memory resources” or “Insufficient system resources”.
- The update addresses an issue that sends unexpected password expiration notices to users. This occurs when you set up an account to use “Smart Card is Required for Interactive Logon” and set “Enable rolling of expiring NTLM secrets”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). It stops working. This occurs when you use Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) cluster. It might not come online. This occurs after a periodic password rollover. The error code is 1326.
- This update addresses an issue that affects access to Tab settings for IE mode sites.
- This update addresses an issue that affects dot sourcing. It fails files that contain class definition in Windows PowerShell.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the use of Event Viewer. The issue limits the number of event sources that users who are not administrators can access.
- This update addresses an Event Viewer issue. It affects the rendering of a forwarded event log.
- This update addresses a memory leak. It occurs every time you print a rich text document.
- This update addresses an issue that affects a computer when it renders a halftone bitmap. The computer stops working.
- This update addresses an issue that affects devices that have multiple, discreet GPUs. You cannot choose the high-performance GPUs from the default graphics settings page.
- This update addresses an issue that stops your device from working when it resumes from Modern Standby. The error is 0x13A KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION.
- This update addresses an issue that affects applications that perform certain actions in a callback. The applications might stop working. These actions include closing a Window (WM_CLOSE).
- This update changes the support phone number for Microsoft India for Windows activation.
- This update changes the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) ranges for certain mobile providers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Firewall. The firewall drops all connections to the IP address of a captive portal. This occurs when you choose the Captive Portal Addresses option.
- This update addresses a multi-function label printer issue. It affects the installation of some of them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects devices that are joined to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). The Windows Firewall cannot apply the correct domain and profile for them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects audio playback. It fails on devices that have certain processors.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard. It shows the wrong layout for the French-Canadian language.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). It might create audit events that you do not need. This occurs when you choose the Disabled: Script Enforcement option.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the touch keyboard. Sometimes, it does not show the correct layout based on the current input scope.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Chinese and Japanese Input Method Editor (IME). When you search the Emoji Panel (Windows key + period ( . ), search might fail for some of you.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Chinese and Japanese Handwriting Panel. It does not show text prediction candidates or stops responding. This occurs when you select a word from the candidate list of the Handwriting Panel.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the runas It stops working. The device behaves as if you did not sign in to your account.
- This update addresses an issue that might affect a large reparse point. You might get a stop error when you use NTFS to access it. This issue occurs after a canceled FSCTL Set operation changes the reparse tag.
- This update addresses a known issue that might affect some speech recognition apps. They might have sporadic speech recognition, expressive input, and handwriting issues. This occurs when the display language is Chinese or Japanese. The apps might not recognize certain words. They might not receive any input from speech recognition or affected input types. This issue is more likely to occur when the apps use offline speech recognition. For app developers, this issue only affects speech recognition that uses Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS) in Media.SpeechRecognition. This issue does not affect other types of speech recognition.
All the new features in Windows 11 build 22000.2001 (KB5026436) (original release)
Microsoft also rolled out Windows 11 build 22000.2001. This is for those running the original version of Windows 11. It's a small release focused on bug patches. You can see what's new and changed below.
-This update addresses an issue that affects searchindexer.exe. It stops working after you sign out. This issue occurs after you upgrade your machine to Windows 11 Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and sign in to that machine.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Narrator. It does not announce text attributes correctly for words, such as “misspelled”, “deletion change,” and “comment”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Server Message Block (SMB). You cannot access the SMB shared folder. The errors are, “Not enough memory resources” or “Insufficient system resources”.
- The update addresses an issue that sends unexpected password expiration notices to users. This occurs when you set up an account to use “Smart Card is Required for Interactive Logon” and set “Enable rolling of expiring NTLM secrets”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). It stops working. This occurs when you use Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).
- The update addresses an issue that affects scheduled tasks. The tasks fail when they use stored local user account credentials. This occurs when you enable Credential Guard. The error message is “2147943726 : ERROR_LOGON_FAILURE (The username or password is incorrect).”
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) cluster. It might not come online. This occurs after a periodic password rollover. The error code is 1326.
- This update addresses an issue that affects access to Tab settings for IE mode sites.
- This update addresses an issue that affects dot sourcing. It fails files that contain class definition in Windows PowerShell.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the use of Event Viewer. The issue limits the number of event sources that users who are not administrators can access.
- This update addresses an issue that affects applications that perform certain actions in a callback. The applications might stop working. These actions include closing a Window (WM_CLOSE).
- This update changes the support phone number for Microsoft India for Windows activation.
- This update addresses an issue that affects certain printers. They fail to install if they connect to Wi-Fi automatically.
- This update changes the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) ranges for certain mobile providers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Firewall. The firewall drops all connections to the IP address of a captive portal. This occurs when you choose the Captive Portal Addresses option.
- This update addresses a multi-function label printer issue. It affects the installation of some of them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects devices that are joined to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). The Windows Firewall cannot apply the correct domain and profile for them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects audio playback. It fails on devices that have certain processors.
- This update improves the user experience (UX) and interactions for the search box on the taskbar.
- This update addresses an issue that might affect a large reparse point. You might get a stop error when you use NTFS to access it. This issue occurs after a canceled FSCTL Set operation changes the reparse tag.
All the new features in Windows 10 Release Preview channel build 19045.3030 (KB5026435)
Ending with Windows 10, there are two new features in this Release Preview build. Microsoft is bringing back an improved search box experience on the Windows 10 taskbar, which can be used to access apps, files, settings, and more. If you don't like it, you can use the taskbar context menu or respond to a dialog that appears when you use search. This is in addition to the new ability to display three high-priority toast notifications at the same time. Up to four toast notifications might appear at the same time, with three high-priority notifications, and one normal-priority one. The other changes are below.
- This update addresses an issue that affects App Installer. Sometimes, MSIX apps fail to update.
- This update addresses an issue that affects Server Message Block (SMB). You cannot access the SMB shared folder. The errors are, “Not enough memory resources” or “Insufficient system resources”.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). It stops working. This occurs when you use Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).
- The update addresses an issue that affects scheduled tasks. The tasks fail when they use stored local user account credentials. This occurs when you enable Credential Guard. The error message is “2147943726 : ERROR_LOGON_FAILURE (The username or password is incorrect).”
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) cluster. It might not come online. This occurs after a periodic password rollover. The error code is 1326.
- This update addresses an issue that affects access to Tab settings for IE mode sites.
- This update addresses an issue that affects dot sourcing. It fails files that contain class definition in Windows PowerShell.
- This update changes the support phone number for Microsoft India for Windows activation.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the PublishDfsRoots policy. It does not apply correctly to a targeted client that has mobile device management (MDM). One example of MDM is Microsoft Intune.
- This update changes the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) ranges for certain mobile providers.
- This update addresses an issue that affects the Windows Firewall. The firewall drops all connections to the IP address of a captive portal. This occurs when you choose the Captive Portal Addresses option.
- This update addresses a multi-function label printer issue. It affects the installation of some of them.
- This update addresses an issue that affects devices that are joined to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). The Windows Firewall cannot apply the correct domain and profile for them.
- 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 affects the touch keyboard. Sometimes, it does not show the correct layout based on the current input scope.
- This update addresses an issue that sometimes fails to open the touch keyboard.
- This update addresses an issue that might affect a large reparse point. You might get a stop error when you use NTFS to access it. This issue occurs after a canceled FSCTL Set operation changes the reparse tag.
That's all the action from the Windows Insider Program today. There's a heavy focus on the Release Preview channel this week, and Microsoft noted that it isn't releasing a new build for the Canary or Dev Channels this week. Rest up if you're on those Windows Insider channels.
