Microsoft is once again releasing a new Windows 10 Insider build on a Friday, and this week we"re getting build 21318 in the Dev channel. This build includes a new feature, which is the ability to paste content as plain text.
As usual, there are also some fixes, improvements, and known issues in this release, but the list is significantly shorter than last week"s build. That build was over two weeks in the works, so that makes sense. Starting with the list of improvements, features like the new touch keyboard are now available for everyone, among other things:
- Insiders using x64 apps on ARM64 will no longer need to download and install a separate preview version of the ARM64 C++ redistributable package.
- We’re making a change so that the notification when pairing supported Bluetooth devices will now stay on the screen a little longer, given you the chance to interact with it before it goes away. If you’d like to dismiss it before then, you can still do so at any point by clicking the X in the notification, middle clicking the notification, or sliding the notification off the screen.
- Touch keyboard improvements as mentioned in Build 21301 such as updates to the default keyboard layout on 12” or larger screens and the candidate bar are now rolling out to all Insiders in the Dev Channel.
- We’ve improved the smoothness of motion while using Magnifier – for the scenario where you are transitioning between mouse and keyboard focus.
As for fixes, there"s still quite a long list this week, with many fixes revolving around the new News & Interests feature:
- [News and interests] Thank you for your feedback about the space used by news and interests on the taskbar. We’ve been hard at work on a solution that allows you to make the most of the space available. This build adds functionality that dynamically changes the size of the button, depending on the space available on your taskbar.
- [News and interests] We fixed an issue where updating the Windows accent color would not immediately update in the flyout.
- [News and interests] We fixed an issue where if you attempt to share news via email from the flyout would dismiss the flyout without opening the Mail app.
- [News and interests] We fixed an issue where the flyout was appearing quicker than other elements on the taskbar when hovering.
- [News and interests] We fixed multiple issues impacting explorer.exe performance and reliability, as well as impacting the sign in experience.
- We fixed an issue where the right side of the quick actions area of the Action Center was truncated.
- We fixed an issue where Netflix and other apps on ARM64 were unable to play DRM content.
- We fixed an issue where x64 apps like OBS Studio were unable to activate the camera on ARM64.
- We fixed an issue that was preventing Azure Data Studio, and by extension, SQL Server Management Studio, from installing on ARM64.
- We fixed several PowerShell cmdlets running in x64 PowerShell on ARM64. Examples of some PowerShell cmdlets that now work: Enable-PSRemoting, Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature, Get-VpnConnection.
- We fixed an issue where your active keyboard layout would be reset to the default after connecting to the PC via Remote Desktop.
- We fixed an issue with the Quick and Changjie IMEs where pressing CTRL + / while the IME was in Off mode would unexpectedly insert an ellipsis.
- We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to find the Pinyin IME Settings with search. With this update, if you are a Pinyin IME user, typing Pinyin into search will now return these Settings pages.
- We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard could become unexpectedly large after disconnecting an external monitor.
- We fixed an issue where the tooltips in the emoji panel displayed an unexpectedly thick border when using Windows in high contrast.
- We fixed an issue where choosing Reset my PC with the Keep my files option was failing.
- We fixed an issue that could result in elements of the Open dialog being unexpectedly small when invoked from certain apps and moved across monitors with different scaling.
- We fixed an issue that could result in Narrator unexpectedly saying “No item in view” as you used the arrow keys to move through the apps list in the Start menu.
- We fixed an issue where it was not possible to unpin apps from the Start menu in the previous flight.
- We fixed and issue where, in previous builds, Domain networks would appear with the wrong firewall profile resulting in some local network services being blocked.
- Some Insiders reported seeing an issue with the text “Don’t turn off your computer” when upgrading to the previous flight. This will no longer be an issue with this flight, as we have changed the text to “Please keep your computer on and plugged in”.
As for the known issues:
- We’re investigating an issue where if you access an Azure Active Directory (AAD) joined device via Remote Desktop (RDP), it will fail after updating to Build 21313. To resolve the issue, please add the following registry key:
Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IdentityStore\LoadParameters\{B16898C6-A148-4967-9171-64D755DA8520}]
Value: “Enabled”=dword:00000001- We’re looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
- We’re investigating an issue impacting the reliability of Start and other modern apps, which started in recent Dev Channel flights. If you are impacted, you may experience the Start menu layout resetting.
- Live previews for pinned sites aren’t enabled for all Insiders yet, so you may see a grey window when hovering over the thumbnail in the taskbar. We’re continuing to work on polishing this experience.
- We’re working on enabling the new taskbar experience for existing pinned sites. In the meantime, you can unpin the site from the taskbar, remove it from the edge://apps page, and then re-pin the site.
- [News and interests] We’re investigating an issue where the taskbar button might show no content after the primary monitor is changed.
- [News and interests] We’re addressing an issue where news and interests may not be available when signing into Windows without internet access.
- [News and interests] Sometimes the news and interests flyout cannot be dismissed with pen.
- [ARM64] Insiders who installed the preview version of the Qualcomm Adreno graphics driver on the Surface Pro X may experience reduced brightness of the display. This will be addressed in a future update. If you are experiencing this issue, please see the feedback collection for more information.
- We’re investigating reports from Insiders that the Chinese text for the lunar calendar in the clock and calendar flyout is no longer displaying properly as of the previous flight.
As a reminder, Dev channel builds come from the vNext development branch, and they"re not tied to a specific Windows 10 release - though we can expect some of these changes to show up in a feature update in the second half of this year. If you"re more interested in the immediate future for Windows 10, Microsoft announced version 21H1 earlier this week along with a preview build for it. You can follow our guide to begin testing that update if that"s more your speed.