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Microsoft is rolling out two new Windows 11 beta channel builds to close out the week. As usual, the first build (22623.891) is for those who have new features on and enables the most exciting things like tweaks to the task manager. The second build (22621.891) is for those with new features off by default and just patches a few bugs in Windows 11.
On build 22623.891, there are a set of good tweaks to the Task Manager. The first is a new process filtering ability, so you can filter and search for processes based on binary name, PID, or publisher name. Microsoft says filters will apply as you switch between pages and sees it as a quick way to single out problematic processes. The second tweak adds the ability to use a preferred theme in Task Manager regardless of your active light or dark theme on Windows.
Smaller task manager changes in this release include support for themes for in-app dialogues, and an improved efficiency mode dialogue that adds a "Do not ask me again" box. You can see the other changes and improvements in this release by checking below.
- We have made improvements to Emoji search for Japanese and Simplified Chinese by handling Kana/Kanji and Pinyin properly in the emoji panel.
- When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar should no longer get stuck in the expanded state (instead of dismissing to collapsed state).
- Fixed an issue causing the do not disturb icon to disappear while in do not disturb mode.
- The new show hidden icons flyout’s animation should now be consistent with other taskbar flyouts.
- The show hidden icons flyout background color should now align with your accent color if “Show accent color on Start and taskbar” is enabled in Settings > Personalization > Colors.
- Fixed multiple explorer.exe crashes impacting taskbar performance.
As for what's changed in the second beta channel release, both build 22621.891 & build 22623.891 bring these sets of fixes. There are a bunch of core changes across File Explorer, Microsoft Defender, and other critical pieces of Windows 11.
- New! You can back up applicable settings to your Microsoft account. You can also sync these settings on any Windows device and in Microsoft Office.
- We fixed an issue that affected File Explorer. It failed to localize folders.
- We fixed an issue that affected the CopyFile function. It might have sometimes returned error 317: ERROR_MR_MID_NOT_FOUND.
- We fixed an issue that affected process creation. It failed to create security audits for it and other related audit events.
- We fixed an issue that affected printing in landscape mode in Microsoft Edge. The print output was incorrect. This issue occurred when you used Microsoft Defender Application Guard.
- We fixed an issue that affected Microsoft Defender when it was not the primary antivirus. Microsoft Defender failed to turn off passive mode. This issue occurred when you turn off Smart App Control (SAC).
- We added .wcx to the list of Dangerous Extensions that some app control policies do not allow.
- We fixed an issue that affected a computer account. Use of non-standard characters can stop the cleanup of the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) accounts.
- We fixed an issue that affected the Windows Firewall service. It did not start when you turned on the Override block rules option.
- We fixed an issue that might have affected applications that run on the Windows Lock Down Policy (WLDP). They might have stopped working.
If you plan to install these builds, there's also a set of known issues. The issues impact the Task Manager, Taskbar, and System Tray. Check them out below.
- We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders in recent Beta Channel builds.
- The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
- The taskbar takes longer than expected to transition to the touch-optimized version when switching between desktop posture and tablet posture.
- [NEW] Filtering by publisher name does not match correctly on the Processes page.
- [NEW] Some services may not show in the Services page after filtering is applied.
- [NEW] If a new process is starting while a filter is set, then that process may appear for a split second in the filtered list.
-[NEW] The delete key and tooltip are not working on the filter input box.
- [NEW] Some dialogs may not render in the correct theme when applied from Task Manager Settings page.
- [NEW] The data content area of the Processes page may flash once when theme changes are applied in the Task Manager Settings page.
- [NEW] There’s an issue we’re investigating where Task Manager isn’t displaying light and dark content correctly, leading to unreadable text. This happens when you have your mode in Settings > Personalization > Colors set to Custom – as a workaround for the time being, please switch it to Light or Dark.
Microsoft also has a warning message for Beta channel Windows Insiders. Those who are on build 22622 will get moved to build 22623 with an enablement package soon. The package will bump the build number for those with new features getting rolled out, and make it easier to tell apart from other devices in the Beta channel with new features off. Those who are in the group with new features turned off by default can also check for updates and choose to install the update that will have features rolling out.
Source: Microsoft