Windows Insiders in the Beta channel are getting a new build of Windows 11 today, bringing the build number up to 22624.1680 or 22621.1680, depending on whether they've opted to receive the latest updates as early as possible. As usual, the bulk of the changes are only for those in the 22624 branch, and this week, that includes a revamped Widgets board with a new three-column layout.

This redesigned Widgets board isn't entirely new, as it was already available in the Canary and Dev channels, but it's now making its way to the Beta channel, with wider availability likely not too far off. This new Widgets board has a three-column layout that separates widgets from the news articles powered by Microsoft Start, so you can more easily see the kind of content you want to look at. Unfortunately, two columns are for news and only one is for widgets, so there's a chance you'll see more content you don't care about.

Windows 11 widgets new

In addition to this new layout, the Widgets icon is also getting some updates, as you'll now see animated icons when you hover the mouse over the widgets button or when the button is updated with new information. Right now, only some weather and finance icons are supported, though. This change is actually available for non-Insiders with the latest preview update rolled out earlier this week.

Another notable change in this build has to do with app defaults in Windows 11. Back in March, Microsoft had announced some changes to how app defaults work by adding support for deep linking in the Settings app, so you can easily set a specific app as the default for a given file type or protocol. These changes are now available in this build. Microsoft is also make changes to how apps are pinned to the taskbar, though those will be coming later.

Aside from these few changes, this update is all about fixes. Some of them are exclusive to users running build 22624, but others affect everyone, even those using build 22621.1680. Here's the full list:

Microsoft only notes a couple of known issues in this release, and they're fairly small. One of them may cause the search bar to display the daily search highlight design instead of the Bing button after a restart, and the other can cause the Widgets board to generate placeholders for the old two-column view when you launch it for the first time, even if your device supports the new design.

As per usual, the update will automatically download and install sooner or later if you're enrolled in the Beta channel, but you may want to do it yourself as soon as possible to avoid unexpected restart prompts. If you're on build 22621, you can upgrade to build 22624 using the recently-added toggle in the Windows Update section of the Settings app.