Microsoft today released Windows 11 build 22489 development channel which adds a new Your Microsoft Account page to the Accounts section in Settings. The deployment of this new section is currently limited, which means that only a small number of users will be able to see the addition added to their version. The page allows users to view and manage Microsoft account settings such as subscriptions, orders, etc.
The company aims to improve functionality through online service experience packs similar to Windows feature experience packs, allowing the company to improve certain features without major operating system upgrades. Unlike Feature Experience Packs which provide enhancements to operating system components, Online Service Experience Packs are “focused on providing enhancements for a specific experience,” the company adds. These packs will be served through Windows Update and are currently being tested for the new Microsoft account page in Settings, but will be used for other features in the future.
In addition to the new MSA page, other enhancements have been made to settings, including splitting the Apps & Features page into two pages, renaming the Connect app to “Wireless View”, and more. The company is also improving DNS functionality over HTTPS by adding support for discovery of designated resolvers. Here is the full list of improvements in this release:
- We added support for Discovery of designated resolvers which allows Windows to discover the encrypted DNS configuration from a DNS resolver known only by its IP address. See this blog post for more details.
- To improve consistency, we are updating the name of the Connect app to now “Wireless Display”. This app is an on-demand (FOD) feature and can be activated by going to Settings> Apps> Optional features> Add optional feature.
- We divide “Apps and Features” in Settings into two pages under Apps, “Installed Apps” and “Advanced App Settings”.
- In case you missed last week, just a reminder that Windows Sandbox now works on ARM64 PCs!
The release also brings a long list of fixes, which is always welcome. As is the case with every release, the company promises to bring many of these fixes to the publicly available version of Windows 11, but there is no timeline for when that will happen or what fixes will be. specifically included. Here are all the fixes:
[Taskbar]
- Application icons on secondary monitors should now display more reliably instead of being blank.
- Stopped an explorer.exe crash that sometimes occurred when using the context menu of the Desktops context menu.
- Fixed an explorer.exe crash that sometimes occurred when closing the Desktops drop-down menu.
[File Explorer]
- Pin to Quick Access is now a top-level option when right-clicking a drive in File Explorer.
- We have improved the performance of launching the context menu.
- Some fixes have been made to improve the reliability of explorer.exe when using File Explorer.
[Windowing]
- Closing windows in task view should feel less nervous now.
- Did some work to help fix an issue that caused flickering in the app window when resizing some apps in recent versions of Dev Channel.
[Settings]
- Addresses an issue that caused settings to crash in some cases after switching to Windows Update.
- Added space that was missing in search results when looking for touch keyboard settings.
- Fixed a settings crash when trying to customize options in wheel settings.
- If animations are disabled, rejecting a notification using the X will no longer have an animation.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented media controls from showing in Quick Settings when recently playing music. It is also believed to have had an impact on the use of hardware media keys.
- The tooltip for the Wi-Fi option in quick settings should no longer fly at the top of the screen.
[Other]
- Addressed an underlying issue that caused the Processes tab in Task Manager to sometimes be blank. It is also believed to be the same cause that caused UAC to open very slowly recently.
- Addresses an issue with installing Xbox Game Pass games with error 0x00000001.
- Fixed an issue where get-winevent in PowerShell would fail with an InvalidOperationException (Number 60740).
- Mitigated a high impact mousocoreworker.exe crash during recent flights.
- I have been working to try to improve the layout of the text in the notification buttons in cases where there is both icon and text.
- The Get Started app will no longer crash if the Tips app has been uninstalled.
- Fixed an issue causing some devices to be checked for bugs with SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCPTION when updating from previous versions.
- An underlying change was made to help resolve an issue that caused an unexpected “bad image” error message dialog box to appear on startup.
Finally, there are a number of known issues, including one with the Windows Update settings page that the company says will impact how users check for updates. It is best for users to note the known issue and proceed with installing this version, especially for those upgrading from a version of version 22000.
Here are all known issues:
[General]
- In this version you will notice links to Windows Update, Recovery and For developers under the main Windows Update settings page. You will need to click Windows Update a second time to check for updates. Recovery and For developers links should not appear under Windows Update in settings. These issues will be fixed in a future release.
- Users updating versions 22000.xxx or earlier to newer versions of the development channel using the latest development channel ISO, may receive the following warning message: The version you are trying to install is Flight Signed. To continue the installation, activate the flight signature. If you receive this message, press the Activate button, restart the PC and try the update again.
- Some users may see their screen and sleep times reduced. We are investigating the potential impact that shorter screen and sleep times could have on power consumption.
[Start]
- In some cases, you may not be able to enter text when using search from top or taskbar. If you have the problem, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box and then close it.
[File Explorer]
- Trying to rename items on the desktop does not work properly in this version. It should work if you open File Explorer, navigate to the Desktop folder, and try to rename from there.
[Taskbar]
- The taskbar will sometimes blink when changing the input method.
- We are working on a fix for an issue causing ToolTips to appear in an unexpected location after hovering over the corner of the taskbar.
[Search]
- After clicking the Search icon on the taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this happens, restart the “Windows Explorer” process and reopen the search panel.
[Quick Settings]
- We are investigating reports from Insiders that the volume and brightness sliders do not display correctly in Quick Settings.
The company has also made the SDK preview for this release and the NuGet packages available for those interested. Additionally, the company is also reminding users that Windows Sandbox now works with ARM64 PCs, a capability that was added last week. As usual, build 22489 should be available to Dev Channel users through Windows Update.
