Following on last week"s release of build 21370, Microsoft is sticking to a Thursday release for this week"s Windows 10 build in the Dev channel, build 21376. Like the past few releases, this one is from the co_release branch, which would usually indicate that Microsoft may be getting ready to wrap up development on the next feature update for Windows 10.
This build is fairly light on news, but it does include a new Segoe UI Variable font, which is designed to scale better across different display sizes, specifically larger ones. The original Segoe UI font was designed to optimal at 9pt sizes, but this variant should adapt better to different displays.
Not every part of the UI will be using Segoe UI Variable right away, though, so you may not see changes in all elements of the OS.
Aside from that, the build mostly consists of smaller improvements, including a new icon for the Connect app. Here"s what else is new:
- To continue enjoying Auto HDR, visit Settings > Display > HDR Settings and make sure Auto HDR is set to On.
- We’ve made some small updates to improve the drag-and-drop default cursor design in scenarios like dragging and dropping into Outlook.
- We’re updating the Connect app icon to align with our other recent iconography improvements.
- Based on feedback we’ve made some small tweaks to how the symbols in the symbols section of the emoji panel are sorted.
- We’re updating the Segoe UI Historic font to add Bamum Unicode range support.
The focus right now seems to be on bug fixes, and there"s a lengthy list of them to look forward to in this build. Here"s everything that"s been fixed:
- [News and interests] We fixed an issue where news and interests would open on hover while the mouse was in motion over the button instead of only when the mouse is stationary.
- [News and interests] We fixed an issue so that the taskbar button will no longer be stuck in a reduced size when the taskbar height is increased from its default.
- [News and interests] We made some explorer.exe reliability and performance improvements, especially when using a Remote Desktop Connection.
- We fixed an issue resulting in WSL users finding that File Explorer launch performance and other file related activities regressed after upgrading to Build 21354 and higher.
- We fixed an issue resulting in Pinyin IME users not being able to select items from the candidate window using their keyboard.
- We fixed an issue where Windows Spotlight related text unexpectedly stopped showing on the lock screen in the last few builds.
- We fixed an issue impacting the responsiveness when switching from Start to Search in recent flights (aka when pressing the Windows key and typing).
- We fixed an issue where the “Search with Screenshot” button in Search wasn’t working.
- We fixed an issue resulting in Insiders seeing pseudoloc text on the Windows Update page in Settings.
- We fixed an issue where the Startup Apps page in Settings was showing the wrong icon for Edge Canary.
- We fixed an issue resulting in the Storage Sense page in Settings crashing for some people.
- We fixed an issue where Manage Disks and Volumes in Settings was still incorrectly displaying some HDDs as SSD.
- We fixed an issue that could result in explorer.exe locking up after signing into your PC if you had a large number of browser tabs displaying in ALT + Tab.
- We fixed a rendering issue when viewing acrylic surfaces under Magnifier.
- We fixed an issue impacting night light reliability in recent flights.
- We fixed an issue where the dual boot delay timer was being reset to 0 after upgrading.
- We fixed the issue where some Windows Subsystem for Linux instances can fail to launch with a ‘The parameter is incorrect’ message.
- We’ve worked with our partners to resolve and distribute a fix for an issue causing updates to hang due to a driver compatibility issue. If you are experiencing an issue, please ensure you are running the latest drivers from your manufacturer.
- We fixed an issue that could result in the Windows Update icon unexpectedly not displaying in the notification area when an update was pending reboot.
- We fixed an issue that could result in apps hanging after pressing ALT + Shift.
- We fixed an issue that could result in certain apps crashing if you set focus to the search box in the Open or Save dialog.
- We fixed an issue that could result in Windows Terminal unexpectedly displaying an error saying “Unable to find the selected font” on launch.
- We fixed an issue that could result in audio playback failing when using the new unified audio endpoint.
- We fixed an issue when using a precision touchpad that could result in issues controlling the cursor if your palm was slightly touching the other side of the touchpad.
- We fixed an issue that could result in a precision touchpad unexpectedly scrolling in the wrong direction sometimes.
- We fixed an issue where the black cat emoji wasn’t rendering correctly in DirectWrite controls.
- We fixed an issue where when typing with an IME while Task Manager or certain other apps were in focus, the unfinalized text could appear very tiny on a high DPI screen.
- We fixed an issue where some elements of the Japanese IME candidate window could be unexpectedly cut off after increasing the text scaling.
- We fixed an issue resulting in the F10 function not working if you switched to using the previous version of the Japanese IME.
- We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard unexpectedly had some blank keys when using the Bopomofo IME with the full keyboard layout.
As Microsoft moves to focus on stability, the list of known issues keeps shrinking, and this time it"s the smallest we"ve seen in quite a while. Here"s what you need to be aware of before installing this one:
- The Windows Camera App currently does not respect the default brightness setting set via the new Camera Settings page.
- We’re investigating an issue where elements of Search (including the search box in File Explorer) are no longer displaying correctly in dark theme.
- We’re working on a fix for an issue where after updating to this build, some devices may show a warning in the tray indicating your version of Windows 10 has reached end of service.
- [News and interests] We’re investigating an issue where the flyout may occasionally flash in the top left corner of your screen after clicking the button on your taskbar.
Since builds in the Dev channel are no longer tied to a specific Windows 10 feature update, it"s hard to say when general users may be able to try out the improvements made in the past few builds. The next feature update, version 21H1, is a simple enablement package without much in the way of new features. We"re expecting to see a more significant update in the second half of the year, though, and it could include some of these changes, but that remains to be seen.