Oct 23

Microsoft Technical Takeoff

Next week, starting October 24th 2022, Microsoft is organizing the “Microsoft Technical Takeoff – Windows + Intune”

Here’s an overview of the schedule:

head over to the technical community site for more details, sign up & calendar reminders:

https://aka.ms/TechnicalTakeoff

Lots of interesting topics, Hope to see you there!

Oct 22

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25227

Hi all, last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25227 to the Dev Channel.

Upgrades went smooth here, a few newly spotted feedback items:

Snap layouts get fooled by dpi difference on monitors for certain store apps (https://aka.ms/AAifiyg)

Picture of app snapped larger than expected when dragging from 2nd monitor to snap layout 2×2

GSOD / Crash on restart after network disappears (https://aka.ms/AAigqyc)

Picture of a Green Screen of Death ‘DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE’

Happy Upgrading!

What’s new

Update Management Improvements

Ensuring consistent and predictable timing of restarts for Windows updates is a key part of a successful update strategy. To improve the predictability of restarts, we have made the following changes for the Update Stack Orchestrator:

  • The Deadline calculation for both quality and feature updates is now based off the time the client’s update scan initially discovered the update. Previously, the Deadline was based off the release date of the update for quality updates and the reboot pending date for feature updates.
  • The Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts Group Policy setting was split into two separate settings to align with the existing configuration service provider (CSP) policies. The options in the Group Policy settings are the same for both feature and quality updates. Each of the new settings also has a Don’t auto-restart until end of grace period option. The new Group Policy settings are:
    • Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts for quality updates
    • Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts for feature updates
Screenshot of the Group Policy setting “Specify deadline for automatic updates and restarts for feature updates”.
Screenshot of the Group Policy setting “Specify deadline for automatic updates and restarts for feature updates”.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Install and Update > All other issues.

Changes and Improvements

[Start menu]

  • We are trying out a small change to the Start menu where some Insiders will see badging on their user profile notifying them that certain actions need to be taken.

[Widgets]

  • We’re trying out some different positions of the header with new icons for the Widgets board to learn how to best optimize the Widgets board for our users. By using monoline icons, our goal is to bring consistent, clean, and accessible icons to communicate action and features with simple visuals for users.
We’re trying out some different positions of the header with new icons for the Widgets board.
We’re trying out some different positions of the header with new icons for the Widgets board.

[Input]

  • The change to support the use of clipboard history (WIN + V) on password fields that began rolling out with Build 25206 is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
  • We made a change to allow you to contribute your voice clips to Microsoft again even if on-device speech recognition is used.

[Voice typing]

  • We are rolling out a change to sync voice typing settings, Automatic punctuation and Voice typing launcher, across all devices signed in using the same Microsoft account. You can toggle this feature via Settings > Accounts > Windows backup > Remember my preferences > Accessibility. This currently only works with Microsoft accounts today with AAD support coming later.

[Settings]

  • A new dialog will warn users of potential data loss if they elect to change the partition style of their storage drive under System > Storage > Disks & Volumes > Disk Properties.
  • We’ve updated the ethernet and Wi-Fi property pages in Settings to now show gateway information in the network details summary.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing some Insiders to not be able to upgrade to recent Dev Channel builds, with error 0xC1900101. As a reminder, this is a generic rollback error code, so if you are continuing to see this error after today’s update you may be encountering a different issue. If you do, please file feedback about it under Install and Update > Downloading, installing, and configuring Windows Update in the Feedback Hub.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

  • Fixed an issue that was causing explorer.exe to crash while switching between apps on the tablet-optimized taskbar.
  • Start’s touch gesture should now follow your finger correctly with the tablet-optimized taskbar.
  • Improved how touch gestures and their animations with the tablet-optimized taskbar work with the touch keyboard.
  • You can now swipe up from within the taskbar with a pen to expand the tablet-optimized taskbar.

[System Tray Updates]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if System Tray Updates (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

  • Fixed an issue causing explorer.exe to crash when dragging icons in the system tray.
  • Right-clicking system tray icons should no longer cause the auto-hidden taskbar to hide incorrectly.
  • The show hidden icons panel in the system tray should no longer block context menus opened after it.
  • Fixed an issue where the first time you tried to open Quick Settings from the system tray it wouldn’t work.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing system tray icons from updating in real time.

[File Explorer]

  • When you scroll to the bottom of the navigation pane using a mouse wheel and try to scroll back up it should no longer get stuck at the bottom.
  • Fixed an issue which could cause certain apps to hang when opening the Open File Dialog or Save File Dialog.
  • Made another fix for a case which could lead to people seeing divider lines overlapping entries in the navigation pane.

[Start menu]

  • Fixed an issue where dragging content across an open Start menu folder could cause a crash.

[Search]

  • Made a fix to help address an issue where Search might not respond when clicking on the search icon in the taskbar.
  • Opening images from search should no longer unexpectedly open them in Print.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue where over time you might lose the ability to interact with certain games using the mouse.
  • Fixed an issue where the multiplication sign (×, U+00D7) wasn’t displaying correctly in the Yu Gothic font family for people with high resolution screens.

[Settings]

  • The size of UWP app icons under Apps > Startup shouldn’t be so small now.

[Task Manager]

  • Dragging Task Manager from the bottom area of the title bar to move the window should work now.

[Other]

  • Fixed a couple issues causing certain apps to crash in recent builds, including OneNote. We are continuing to investigate feedback in this space.
  • Made a change to address an issue which could lead to performance degradation when using performance monitoring tools which leveraged the Microsoft-Windows-DxgKrnl ETW provider. This also impacted performance for Windows Mixed Reality. As a reminder, if you’re experiencing performance issues, please see here for steps on filing actionable performance feedback.
  • Fixed an issue where recording devices with “Listen to this device” enabled might not show in the volume mixer when they were playing sound.
  • If you reset your PC, the screen displayed while it’s resetting will now be black so it’s consistent with the upgrade screens.
  • If you were experiencing Gaming Services crashes while trying to play certain games in the previous Dev Channel flight, please check the Microsoft Store for Gaming Servicing updates, it should be resolved now.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing certain PCs to unexpectedly bugcheck on upgrade to the latest builds, with the error message saying “MULTIPROCESSOR_CONFIGURATION_NOT_SUPPORTED”.
  • Fixed an issue from the previous flight which could cause Miracast to unexpectedly not be able to connect.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of crashes with a few different apps and games in recent builds.
  • We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
  • When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.

[Input]

  • We’re investigating reports that the text cursor becomes white on white when hovering over text fields, making it difficult to see.

[Widgets]

  • In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.

source: Windows Blogs

Oct 21

Windows Insider October Webcast

The new Windows Insider Webcast will be live October 25th get your calendar reminder below

October webcast Tue, 10/25/2022
at 5 PM UTC | 10 AM PDT
Save invite to your calendar

Oct 14

Delete OEM drivers (to enable memory integrity)

On Windows 10/11 when memory integrity cannot be switched on due to incompatible drivers, you can use pnputil.exe to remove the affected OEM drivers

Open Windows Security

Select Device Security

Select the Core isolation details

Set the slider to ON to enable core isolation

If any incompatible (old) drivers are on the system, you will get this:

Select ‘Review incompatible drivers’

Driver example: apg8201zx64.sys (ACS smart card reader driver) – expand the driver to display the oem##.inf

Open an elevated command prompt & run

pnputil.exe /delete-driver oem##.inf

Once successfully removed press the ‘Scan Again’ button in the Windows Security app

If no more incompatible drivers are found you will be able to use core isolation (after a restart)

Reboot the device & verify the setting is now on

Troubleshooting tips:

In case you run in to an exception causing your device to bluescreen after turning on this option, you can reboot into safe mode & run this command to turn it off again:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity" /v "Enabled" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Oct 08

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25217

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25217 to the Dev Channel.

Upgrades went sooth here,

Keep an eye on your Phishing protection in Windows Security, still turned back off after upgrading it seems (https://aka.ms/AAi6ain)

@WindowsInisder program turned 8 this month, be on the lookout for this new badge.

What’s new

Developers can start building 3rd party widgets

We are excited to announce support for 3rd party widgets as part of the WinAppSDK 1.2 preview 2 release. Our team has been working hard to expand the Widgets board that was first introduced in Windows 11 to more developers. The 3rd party widgets platform included in this release will allow developers to create widgets for their packaged Win32 apps and test them locally on the Windows 11 Widgets board.

New features:

  • Developers with packaged Win32 apps will be able to create and test 3rd party widgets locally if their machine is running in Developer Mode under Settings > Privacy & security > For developers. Developers will also need to be on the latest Insider Preview build from the Dev Channel to get the necessary update for the Widgets Board (version 521.20060.1205.0 or higher). For more information on widgets including pre-requisites please see Widget Design Docs and Widget Dev Docs.

Known limitations:

  • 3rd party widgets can only be tested locally on the latest Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel for this preview release. Once WinAppSDK 1.2 GA is out, users on released versions of Windows 11 can begin acquiring 3rd party widgets via the Microsoft Store for shipped versions of their app.
  • Support for 3rd party PWA widgets will also be coming as part of a future Microsoft Edge release.

Cloud Suggestion in Simplified Chinese IME

We are trying out some changes that will allow you to easily type fresh, hot, and popular words in Simplified Chinese. The changes include an improved cloud suggestion and integrated search suggestion. The cloud suggestion adds the most relevant word from Bing to the IME candidate window. We’ve updated the back-end logic so that we can provide better, fresh suggestions.

Simplified Chinese IME candidate window with a word suggestion from Bing at the second place.
Simplified Chinese IME candidate window with a word suggestion from Bing at the second place.

The integrated search suggestion gives you additional suggestions that are similar to what you see in Bing search page. You can either insert a suggestion as text or search it directly in Bing.

Bing search suggestions expanded from IME candidate window.
Bing search suggestions expanded from IME candidate window.

To turn on these features, select a chevron button at the right end of the IME candidate window. You’ll find Turn on button.

IME candidate window with a balloon tip that points to the chevron button.
IME candidate window with a balloon tip that points to the chevron button.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Input and Language > Text Input.

Changes and Improvements

[Input]

  • We began rolling out the new Tamil Anjal keyboard for the Tamil language with Build 25179 and starting today, it is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. To add it, make sure Tamil (Singapore), Tamil (Malaysia), Tamil (Sri Lanka), or Tamil (India) is listed under Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region, and then click the “…” next to the language, select Language Options, and add Tamil Anjal (QWERTY) to the list of keyboards.
  • We have disabled the new touch keyboard setting that first began rolling out to Windows Insiders in Build 25188 for now. We hope to bring this feature back in the future after further refinement of the design. As we’ve mentioned previously, features we try out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.

Fixes

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

  • We fixed the issue causing the taskbar to sometimes collapse when it should be expanded if there are no running windows on the desktop.
  • We fixed an issue that would occur when using the left or right edge gestures resulting in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing the tablet-optimized taskbar to crash explorer.exe while switching apps.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing the tablet-optimized taskbar to crash explorer.exe if you entered the overflow flyout.

[Windowing]

  • Fixed an issue where the close button for window preview thumbnails in Task View was drawing slightly outside the bounds of the thumbnail.
  • Fixed an issue where when switching between windows in recent builds you might see the entire window flash black for a frame while rendering.
  • Fixed an issue causing Miracast video quality to be very slow and stuttering in recent flights despite having a solid internet connection.

[System Tray Updates]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if System Tray Updates (documented here) is enabled on your device. Tablet-optimized taskbar is still rolling out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

  • Fixed an issue so that Quick Settings items can now be rearranged with touch again.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue under Network and Internet > Advanced Network Settings, where certain networks were displaying the wrong link speed.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue where remote desktop on ARM64 PCs was unexpectedly not using UDP and only TCP.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
  • We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • 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.
  • When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.

[Widgets]

  • In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk.

SDK NuGet packages are now also flighting at NuGet Gallery | WindowsSDK which include:

These NuGet packages provide more granular access to the SDK and better integration in CI/CD pipelines.

Sneak Peek: A new video calling experience for Chat from Microsoft Teams in Windows 11

Chat from Microsoft Teams in Windows 11 will be coming with a more intuitive and streamlined way to video call anyone in the world.

The new video calling experience for Chat from Microsoft Teams in Windows 11.
The new video calling experience for Chat from Microsoft Teams in Windows 11.

When you open Chat from the taskbar, the focus will be on you with a preview of your own video, and the various ways you can connect with your people. It is now easier than ever to immediately start a video call with those who are using Microsoft Teams for personal use. For those who are not on Teams, not a problem- you can easily share a call link with anyone via SMS or email and get the conversation going directly within Chat.

This experience will become more broadly available in the coming months, but a small subset of users will have started seeing the experience as part of a sneak preview release. See if you fall into this category by launching Chat from the taskbar. If you do, we’d love to hear your feedback, which is available directly from within the product.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Chat.

Microsoft Store Update

We are beginning to roll out a Microsoft Store update (version 22209) with the following improvements:

  • While finding games in the Store, we now clearly show when they are “available with Game Pass” as well as the current available price. On the detail page of such a game, we updated the button design and added a new section to let you know what is included in the subscription.
Games in the Store now shows when they are “available with Game Pass” as well as the current available price.
Games in the Store now shows when they are “available with Game Pass” as well as the current available price.
  • We’ve enhanced the library experience with simplified options and improved performance.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store.

source: Windows Blogs

Oct 02

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25211

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25211 to the Dev Channel.

All upgrades went smoothly here.

Task manager is back on the option list when you right-click the taskbar, personally I had gotten used to it but anyhow nice to see it’s back, muscle memory does still take me there 🙂

Build upgrades are still turning off phishing protection, best to turn them back on post upgrade (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAi6ain)

screenshot of phishing protection turned off

Enjoy upgrading!

What’s new

Widgets settings

In this update, we have separated the widget picker and Widgets settings to make it easier for you to find and interact with each view. Now, the widget picker is opened by the “+” button and Widgets settings is opened by the “Me” button. We re-used the space the picker used to take in Widget settings to cover the highly requested taskbar settings based on Insider feedback to give you control over how the Widgets entry works on your taskbar.

The button that shows at the top right of the board to launch Widgets settings.
The button that shows at the top right of the board to launch Widgets settings.

When you open Widgets settings by clicking on the “Me” button shown above, you will see three taskbar behaviors that you can toggle on or off.

The Widgets settings page.
The Widgets settings page.

Please note the wording for the toggles in Widget settings is slightly different in this build over what’s shown in the above screenshot. In a future update, the text for the toggles in Widget settings will be updated to reflect what is in the (above) screenshot.

With the toggles in Widget settings, you can:

  • Control whether the Widgets board opens when you hover over the taskbar icon.
  • Control whether Widgets will show notification badging on the taskbar.
  • Control whether live Widget content on the taskbar shows more than weather.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements

[Taskbar]

  • Based on your feedback, we’ve added Task Manager to the context menu when right-clicking on the taskbar. Let us know what you think!
Context menu when right-clicking on the taskbar shows link to Task Manager.
Context menu when right-clicking on the taskbar shows Task Manager.

[System Tray]

  • This build includes preliminary support to rearrange System Tray icons for Insiders who have the System Tray updates that began rolling out with Build 25197. Further improvements for this experience are coming soon. As a reminder, these System Tray updates are still rolling out and are not available to all Insiders just yet. If your PC does not have these changes, your System Tray experience will remain the same as before.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue where the top part of File Explorer (with the search and address box) couldn’t be interacted with when File Explorer was in full screen mode (F11).

[Settings]

  • For the time being, you will no longer be able to uninstall apps with interdependencies (e.g., Steam and gaming apps running on Steam) or repair Win32 apps under Settings > Apps > Installed apps. You will still be able to modify and uninstall Win32 apps without interdependencies.

Fixes

[General]

  • We are beginning to roll out a server-side fix for the issue causing a “date, time and time zone settings are incorrect” message to be improperly displayed, which was also preventing the installation of the latest Insider Preview builds from proceeding.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed the issue where the command bar items like copy, paste, and empty Recycle Bin were unexpectedly not be enabled sometimes when they have been.
  • Fixed an issue which was causing unexpected black bars on the sides of horizontal scroll bars when using dark mode.

[Start]

  • When you have Start set to show more pinned items, the animation for opening folders lower on the page will now appear from the right place.

[Taskbar]

  • Fixed a high hitting Shell Experience Host crash in recent Dev Channel builds, impacting Quick Settings launch reliability.

[Input]

  • The gripper for moving the emoji panel and touch keyboard should now update color correctly when you switch between dark and light mode.
  • Fixed a memory leak when repeatedly invoking the input switcher.

[Settings]

  • Fixed a Settings crash which could happen when changing your mobile hotspot name.
  • Updated the examples used in the Short time selection under Time & Language > Language & Region > Regional Format, to make the 12 hour options (vs 24 hour) a little more obvious by showing morning and afternoon times.

[Task Manager]

  • Tweaked the graphs in the Performance page to use a bit more transparency so it’s easier to see the grid lines underneath.
  • Made another fix to improve Task Manager reliability.
  • Fixed a black flash while might be seen when launching Task Manager in light mode.
  • Fixed a few issues where the font color of certain elements wasn’t correct / readable when using a contrast theme.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue where Narrator would read out the details of the calendar that opens from selecting the date and time from the taskbar when it was collapsed.
  • Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing repeatedly in Windows Sandbox for Insiders with the tablet optimized taskbar and updated system tray.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to hangs in certain apps when opening the Open File Dialog.
  • Fixed an issue which was making the screen go black for some Insiders when enabling HDR recently.
  • Fixed an issue where after using the Open With dialog, the process might stay running even if it wasn’t in use anymore.
  • Fixed an issue which was leading to increased CPU usage for WSL2 users on ARM64 PCs even when WSL was idle.
  • Fixed an issue where closing the print dialog could lead to an app crash in the last couple flights.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that various UI elements in apps appear to be disappearing and reappearing sometimes in recent builds.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • 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.
  • Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
  • When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
  • When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

[Widgets]

  • In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

source: Windows Blogs

Sep 24

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25206

Hi all, last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25206 to the Dev Channel.

Upgrades are going smooth here, however you don’t want to do a reset of your Windows on the current Dev builds (unless you know a new build is getting released soon). Together with @aavdberg we’ve been testing resetting devices on the latest builds, since 25115 it turns out a freshly reset Windows 11 Dev channel build has no security app, no Windows Terminal, Feedback Hub account sign-in issues & more. If you did do a reset, upgrade to the next build release does resolve these issues. (This was added to the know issues) (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAgyq8g)

Phishing protection is turned off every build upgrade: (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAi6ain)

check in Windows Security / App & browser control / Reputation-based protection /

GSOD still happens on Surface Book 3 devices (Feedback Hub: https://aka.ms/AAi269v)

Happy upgrading!

What’s new

SMB authentication rate limiter behavior changes

The SMB authentication rate limiter in Insider Preview builds has added an additional protection mechanism to the SMB server service: it implements a delay between each failed NTLM authentication. This means if an attacker previously sent 300 brute force attempts per second from a client for 5 minutes (90,000 passwords), the same number of attempts would now take at least 50 hours. The goal here is to make a Windows client an unattractive target either when in a workgroup or for its local accounts when joined to a domain. Even though the SMB server runs by default in all versions of Windows, it’s not accessible by default unless you intentionally open the firewall or create a customer SMB share that opens the firewall.

Starting in Build 25206, it is on by default and set to 2000ms (2 seconds). Any bad usernames or passwords sent to SMB will now cause a 2 second delay by default in all editions of Windows Insiders. When first released to Windows Insiders, this protection mechanism was off by default. This behavior change was not made to Windows Server Insiders, it still defaults to 0.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • The updated “Open with” dialog box is now available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

[Graphics]

  • Windows Insiders can now save power by using Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) on external displays! To enable this setting, you must have a 120+Hz monitor with VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) support, as well as a WDDM 3.1 driver installed. To select a dynamic refresh rate, go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display and make your selection under Refresh rate.
    • Note: To get the latest GPU drivers available for Windows Insiders, check for Windows updates by going to Settings > Windows Update, then select “Check for updates”. To find out what WDDM driver you have, go to Start > dxdiag > Display and look at the Driver Model under Drivers.

[File Explorer]

  • Search from File Explorer Home will show recent file activity for cloud files in Details View.

[Input]

  • We’re beginning to roll out a change to support the use of clipboard history (WIN + V) on password fields. We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.

Fixes

[General]

  • OneDrive setup should no longer unexpectedly ask for permission to set up every time your PC reboots.
  • Fixed a high hitting explorer.exe crash which was impacting some Insiders.

[Settings]

  • Fixed a Settings crash which could happen when searching and selecting certain Narrator related settings.

[Search]

  • Fixed a high hitting search crash which was impacting some Insiders in the last few flights.

[Other]

  • The Windows Sandbox window should now resize correctly if you snap it to the side of the screen.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to a memory leak in Windows Error Reporting after certain crashes.
  • If focus is on the desktop, then pressing ALT + F4 and Enter should now shutdown your PC, rather than having to move keyboard focus first (as was needed in the last few flights).
  • The computer icon is now showing again in the Shut Down Windows dialog.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • [NEW] We are investigating an issue where a “date, time and time zone settings are incorrect” message is improperly displayed and prevents the installation from proceeding further.
  • [NEW] Using the “Reset this PC” option to reset your PC will break UWP apps post-reset. If you need to reset your device on Builds 25201 or higher, please back up your files manually and use the latest ISO available from aka.ms/WIPISO to complete a clean install.
  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty recycle bin may unexpectedly not be enabled when they should be.

[Settings]

  • We’re investigating some issues where uninstalling certain apps using Settings > Apps > Installed apps isn’t working correctly.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • 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.
  • Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
  • When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
  • When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

[Widgets]

  • In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

source: Windows Blogs

Sep 17

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25201

Hi all, last Wednesday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25201 to the Dev Channel.

All updates went smooth here, noticed a cache issue since a few builds, with settings app open, check for updates & leave the app open (can be minimized) after a while all updates that have passed are stacked up as ‘completed’, they only get cleared when the settings app is closed

Happy Upgrading!

What’s new

Expanded View in Widgets

Need more space in your widgets board? Can’t quite see everything at a glance? We’re trying out some changes that will allow you to expand the size of your widgets board.

The widgets board in expanded view.
The widgets board in expanded view.

Use the expand and collapse button in the top right corner of the board, next to the add widgets button, to expand or collapse the size of your widgets board.

The button that shows at the top right to expand the widgets board.
The button that shows at the top right to expand the widgets board.

The size of your board is remembered, so if you prefer your widgets board to always show you more content and leave it expanded then that’s how it will be the next time you open it.

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Game Pass Widget Improvements

Last month we introduced the preview of the Game Pass widget without a sign-in experience to your Xbox profile. Today, we’re beginning to roll out and update for the Game Pass widget that introduces the ability to sign-in with your Xbox profile. If you have already signed into your Xbox app on PC, the Game Pass widget will be signed-in with your Xbox account. Once signed-in, the widget will  show the full range of Game Pass games available to you.

Jump back into your recently played games from the Game Pass widget after signing in.
Jump back into your recently played games from the Game Pass widget after signing in.

Additionally, the widget will also show the most recent set of PC Game Pass titles you have played. It gives gamers a quick way to get right back into the action.

As always, we would love to hear your thoughts on how the team can make Game Pass widget better and more personalized for you. Please share your feedback!

[We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Widgets.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • Thank you to all the Insiders who gave us feedback on the different visual treatments for search on the taskbar! Starting with this week’s flight, we are concluding the exploration of these treatments, so if you received this experience, it will be removed on your next reboot.

[File Explorer]

  • File Explorer search will now show results as you type. The full search results page will update live without needing to press enter. We are beginning to roll this out, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet.
  • We’re experimenting with adding more cloud files to search results from Home.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed the issue in the last few flights causing a bugcheck when moving your mouse in certain games.

[File Explorer]

  • As a one-time change to help people find their folders with the navigation pane updates, if the default folders pinned to File Explorer’s navigation pane had been unpinned, they will be re-pinned after upgrading.
  • Fixed a memory leak which was happening when closing File Explorer windows.

[Taskbar]

  • The apps in the taskbar overflow flyout should now be in the correct order when using an Arabic or Hebrew display language.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue where if you hadn’t already opened OneNote once, using the pen click to invoke OneNote wouldn’t work.
  • Made a change to help address an issue where it wasn’t possible to use the Pinyin IME to type in the chat box of certain games.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue which was causing sporadic Settings app crashes.
  • Removed an erroneous white pixel in the icon animation when clicking the Apps category in Settings.

[Widgets]

  • We have fixed the issue where in some cases, the notification banner for some badging would not appear in the widgets board.

[Windowing]

  • Fixed an issue where explorer.exe was crashing if you dragged a snap group in Task View and dropped it into another Desktop.
  • Fixed an issue related to interacting with the Desktops flyout in the taskbar which was causing periodic explorer.exe crashes.
  • Fixed a DWM crash in the last few flights which could lead to a brief black screen when rotating a tablet.
  • Fixed a rare issue which could cause a DWM crash when watching videos in certain UWP apps in recent builds.

[Task Manager]

  • Fixed an issue impacting Task Manager reliability.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to unexpectedly get the message “it is not possible to connect to this network” when connecting to certain Wi-Fi networks recently, although the network was working with other devices.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to Windows Sandbox opening to just a black window on certain PCs.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
  • We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are seeing OneDrive setup asking for permission to set up every time their PC reboots.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty recycle bin may unexpectedly not be enabled when they should be.

[Settings]

  • We’re investigating some issues where uninstalling certain apps using Settings > Apps > Installed apps isn’t working correctly.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • 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.
  • Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
  • When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
  • When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

[Widgets]

  • [NEW] In right-to-left display languages like Arabic, content animates out of view before the widgets board resizes when clicking to expanded view of the widgets board.
  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.

source: Windows blogs

Sep 10

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25197

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25197 to the Dev Channel.

What’s new

Tablet-optimized taskbar

We’re re-introducing the touch-optimized taskbar that’s designed to make you feel more confident and comfortable using your device as a tablet. Your taskbar will automatically transition to this optimized version when you disconnect or fold back the keyboard on your 2-in-1 device.  This feature only works on devices that can be used as tablets. It does not work on laptops or desktop PCs.

As a reminder, there are two states of this taskbar: collapsed and expanded. In the collapsed state, the taskbar gets out your way, gives you more screen space, and prevents you from accidentally invoking the taskbar when you’re holding your tablet. In the expanded state, the taskbar is optimized to be easier to use with touch. You can easily switch between the two states by swiping up and down on the bottom of your device.

Tablet-optimized taskbar in both collapsed and expanded states.
Tablet-optimized taskbar in both collapsed and expanded states.

If this feature is available, you will see a new setting at Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors called “Optimize taskbar for touch interactions when this device is used as a tablet” that will be set to on by default.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > Taskbar.

System Tray Updates

This update introduces updates to the System Tray that affect all device types — not just 2-in-1 devices. With this change, users will see a rounded focus and hover treatment on all icons in the lower right, due to the continued modernization of this experience.

You may also notice that it is not possible to drag and drop or rearrange your system tray icons with this change. We heard your feedback on this change earlier this year and are working to address this in a future Insider Preview build.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Desktop Environment > System Tray.

Changes and Improvements

[Settings]

  • We are beginning to roll out animated icons and illustrations in the Settings app. With the animated icons in the navigation bar, we continue growing our motion design principles to transform these familiar interactions from something purely functional to something that is also delightful.
Delightful new animated icons in the navigation bar of the Settings app.
Delightful new animated icons in the navigation bar of the Settings app.

[Input]

  • We are making the small tweak that began rolling out with Build 25179 to improve the key repeat rate for the traditional touch keyboard layout, as well as the default touch keyboard layout, so it feels more responsive available to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. Now it has the rate of 20 keys per second (for example, when holding down the delete key).

Fixes

[System Tray Updates]

NOTE: These fixes will only show if tablet-optimized taskbar with System Tray updates is enabled on your device. Please see above for details on the tablet-optimized taskbar and System Tray updates, which is beginning to roll out to Windows Insiders and not yet available for everyone.

  • The taskbar should no longer flash because of changes in the system tray in non-tablet-optimized scenarios.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing parts of the taskbar or its icons like search to get stuck in the wrong theme’s colors when switching between light and dark themes.
  • Date and time should no longer get stuck cutting off on the side of the screen from system tray changes.

[Start]

  • Fixed a crash that users were seeing when using Start’s recommended section.

[File Explorer]

  • Fixed an issue leading to a small set of Insiders with “launch folder windows in a separate process” not being able to launch File Explorer in the last two flights due to an explorer.exe crash.
  • Did some work to help improve the performance of deleting files via File Explorer (when emptying the recycle bin or using Shift + Delete) in the case where there are a large number of files being deleted at once.

[Input]

  • Fixed an issue causing ctfmon.exe crashes for some Insiders in recent flights when words were added to your spelling dictionary.
  • Dragging the voice typing window to another monitor which has a different scaling than the originating monitor should work now instead of bouncing back.
  • Fixed a sporadic crash in recent builds when using the input switcher.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to voice typing and other input features hanging on initialization.
  • Fixed an issue with displaying certain Sinhala words, where they were unexpectedly overlapping.

[Settings]

  • Updated the design of the lists displayed Apps > Startup Apps and Apps > Advanced App Settings > App Execution Alias pages to be more consistent with other Settings pages.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to Settings crashing when removing devices.
  • Updated the Personal Dictionary section under Privacy & Security > Inking & Typing Personalization to now say “Custom word list”.

[Widgets]

  • Fixed an issue which was making the weather icon in the taskbar draw too high and with no text in recent flights.

[Windowing]

  • Clicking the title bar portion of a preview thumbnail in Task View should now actually switch to that app, instead of just closing Task View.
  • Fixed a sporadic explorer.exe crash which could happen when using ALT + Tab or Task View.

[Task Manager]

  • Fixed an issue impacting Task Manager reliability.
  • If graphs have been hidden on the Performance page, the circles used to identify each of the different sections should be less blurry now.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue which could lead to hangs in certain apps when attempting to print if an IPP printer took too long to respond to the print request.
  • Fixed an issue where EnumPrinters wasn’t always returning the correct size for pcbNeeded, which could lead to hangs in certain programs.
  • Fixed a typo in the dialog displayed when Smart App Control blocked an app.
  • Fixed an issue where certain characters were missing in the boot environment when using the Chinese (Simplified) or Korean display languages, leading to square boxes in the text.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
  • We’re investigating reports that Insiders are experiencing a bugcheck when moving their mouse in certain games
  • We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are seeing OneDrive setup asking for permission to set up every time their PC reboots.

[File Explorer]

  • We’re working on the fix for an issue where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty recycle bin may unexpectedly not be enabled when they should be.

[Settings]

  • [NEW] We’re investigating some issues where uninstalling certain apps using Settings > Apps > Installed apps isn’t working correctly.

[Tablet-optimized taskbar]

  • [NEW] The taskbar sometimes flashes when transitioning between desktop posture and tablet posture.
  • [NEW] The taskbar takes longer than expected to transition to the touch-optimized version when switching between desktop posture and tablet posture.
  • [NEW] Using the left or right edge gestures can result in the Widgets or Notification Center (respectively) to overlap with or look truncated by the taskbar.
  • [NEW] When using the bottom right edge gesture to see Quick Settings, the taskbar sometimes stays stuck in the expanded state, instead of dismissing to collapsed state.
  • [NEW] When there are no running windows on the desktop, the taskbar can sometimes collapse, when it should be expanded.

[Widgets]

  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.
  • In some cases, the notification banner for some badging will not appear in the widgets board.

App Updates

We are rolling out the following app updates to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Calculator (Version 11.2208.1.0): We have added native Arm64 support to Calculator. You’ll see faster and better performance when you use the app on Arm64 devices.

Media Player (Version 11.2208.22.0): We have added the ability to edit video files in Clipchamp with a new “Edit with Clipchamp” action available when you right-click a video in your library and in the lower-right corner of the video player UI under more options (…) when playing a video file.

The “Edit with Clipchamp” option under the more options (…) button in Media Player.
The “Edit with Clipchamp” option under the more options (…) button in Media Player.

source: Windows Blogs

Sep 03

Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25193

Hi all, last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25193 to the Dev Channel.

Upgrades went smooth, no hiccup’s only the Surface GO took ages to pass ‘Working on updates 20%’ after the reboot

Happy Upgrading!

What’s new

Introducing Xbox subscription management in Settings

With this build, we are introducing a new Xbox subscription management experience within Windows 11 Settings app. If you are a member of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for Console or Xbox Live Gold, you will now be able to see your subscription details via Settings > Accounts.

Like the Microsoft 365 subscription management experience, you will be able to view your billing recurrence, payment method and the games and benefits associated with your Xbox subscription.

In addition, you will also be able to manage and upgrade your subscription, redeem gift card tokens and be up to date on any actions required to continue your subscriptions without any disruptions.

Xbox subscription management in Settings.
Xbox subscription management in Settings.

If you don’t own any Xbox subscriptions, you can learn more about the games and benefits associated with Xbox subscriptions, by clicking the Learn more link on the card.

[We are beginning to roll this feature out, so it isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback and see how it lands before pushing it out to everyone.]

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Settings > User Profile Account Settings.

Support for new Braille displays in Narrator

We are excited to announce support for new Braille displays and new Braille input and output languages in Narrator. Some of the new braille displays we support include: the APH Chameleon, the APH Mantis Q40, the NLS eReader and many more. Refer to the detailed documentation to learn more about the new displays and languages that we support.

Prerequisites:

You must remove Narrator’s current braille support if it is already installed by following the steps below:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps > Optional features > Installed features.
  3. Search for Accessibility – Braille support.
  4. Expand Accessibility – Braille support and uninstall the feature.

Install new narrator braille support:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator > Braille.
  2. Select the more button.
  3. Download braille from this new window by selecting the Download and install braille button.
  4. After braille is installed, restart your computer and return to Settings > Accessibility > Narrator > Braille.
  5. For Braille display to continue working seamlessly while switching between Narrator and third-party screen readers, select the braille display driver used by your third-party screen reader from the “Braille display driver” option. See the note below for customers that use the JAWS for Windows screen reader. This only needs to be done once. Refer to the detailed documentation to learn more about the braille driver solution.

Note: If you have the JAWS for Windows screen reader installed from Freedom Scientific and are using a version released in April 2022 or later along with a Focus braille display then there is no need to select the braille display as noted above.

Additional Resources:

Please refer to the Narrator User Guide for additional information on braille functionality in Narrator.

FEEDBACK: Please file feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Accessibility > Narrator.

Changes and Improvements

[General]

  • As a result of feedback from Windows Insiders, we have disabled the ability to share a local file directly to OneDrive using the built-in Windows share window that first began rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel with Build 25163. We hope to bring this feature back in the future after further refinement of the experience. As we’ve mentioned previously, features we try out in the Dev or Beta Channels may not always ship.

Fixes

[General]

  • Fixed an issue causing enabling .NET Framework 3.5 from the Windows Features dialog to not work in the previous build.

[Taskbar]

  • Made a fix so the taskbar overflow will now use the same accent color as your taskbar.
  • Fixed a couple of issues which were leading to sporadic explorer.exe crashes related to the taskbar overflow.
  • Fixed an issue related to the widgets entry in the taskbar which was causing the taskbar icons to appear to drift around sometimes in the previous flight.
  • Fixed an issue for Insiders with at least two monitors, where if the monitors had different DPI, the taskbar overflow could appear before it was needed or end up overlapped with the date and time on the secondary monitor.
  • Fixed an issue where the taskbar overflow flyout might appear floating away from the taskbar if you opened it after a display scaling change.

[Start]

  • Fixed an issue that was causing unexpected characters to show instead of an apostrophe in the tooltip for the Sleep option in the Power menu.
  • Fixed an issue which could lead to Start menu crashing on launch for some people when Search Highlights was enabled.

[File Explorer]

  • If the taskbar is set to auto-hide and File Explorer is maximized, hovering your mouse on the bottom of the screen to invoke the taskbar should work now.
  • Fixed an issue when dragging and dropping a folder to pin it to the navigation pane, that the line indicating where it would be inserted didn’t have enough contrast in dark mode.
  • We fixed an issue where the search box background in File Explorer might be the opposite color of your current mode (for example dark in light mode).
  • Fixed an issue where File Explorer would appear to open, close, and re-open before it finished drawing after being launched from certain places (for example when opening the location of a downloaded file from Microsoft Edge).
  • Fixed an issue where certain files couldn’t be unpinned from the Favorites section of Home after you’d pinned them.
  • Made another fix to help address UI issues when switching between dark and light mode if the File Explorer window was open when you switch.
  • Fixed a GDI objects leak when resizing the navigation pane in File Explorer, which could potentially lead to content in File Explorer not rendering correctly over time for Insiders who resized the navigation pane frequently.
  • Made some improvements to help the performance of loading Home when using a cloud storage provider, like OneDrive, to back up your files in File Explorer.

[Settings]

  • Fixed an issue causing the Storage page in Settings as well as Disk Cleanup to crash in the scan phase for some people.
  • Fixed an issue where URIs to open pages under the Accounts section of Settings weren’t working for some people – Settings would open, but not navigate to the correct page. This impacted the link to open Sign-in Options in the Start menu.
  • Fixed an issue leading to app icons not displaying correctly under Privacy & Security > Voice activation.
  • Fixed a Settings crash when uninstalling apps using Apps > Installed apps.

[Other]

  • Fixed an issue which could sometimes cause a ShellExperienceHost.exe crash when you stopped casting to another display or switched to duplicate your display.
  • Added a warning to findstr if Unicode input is detected, to make it more clear if that’s why results aren’t returned for certain files.
  • Fixed an issue in recent flights causing lines to not be included when printing tables from certain apps.
  • Fixed an issue in recent flights which could lead to hangs in certain apps.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the Dev Channel may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11.

Known issues

[General]

  • Some games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause your PC to bugcheck.
  • We’re looking into reports that audio stopped working for some Insiders after upgrading to the latest flights.
  • We’re investigating reports of a few different apps having started crashing in recent builds.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that Insiders are experiencing bugchecks when moving their mouse in certain games
  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that some Insiders are seeing OneDrive setup asking for permission to set up every time their PC reboots.

[File Explorer]

  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that a small set of Insiders with “launch folder windows in a separate process” are unable to open File Explorer after last week’s flight.
  • [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue where command bar items like copy, paste, and empty recycle bin may unexpectedly not be enabled when they should be.

[Widgets]

  • Notification badge number may appear misaligned on the taskbar.
  • In some cases, the notification banner for some badging will not appear in the widgets board.
  • [NEW] We’re investigating reports that the weather isn’t displaying correctly in the taskbar for some Insiders, with missing text and the weather icon raised too high.

source: Windows Blogs