Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows 11 Release Preview build for Windows insiders. KB5046732 (22631.4534) is now available for Windows 11 version 23H2 testers, and it is a pretty big update full of important changes and new features for the Start menu, taskbar, touchscreen, mouse, and other areas across the operating system.
Here are the changes that are rolling out gradually:
- [Start menu] New! When you right-click apps that you have pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will appear for apps that have jump lists.
- [Taskbar] New! The system tray shows a shortened date and time. Also, the notification bell icon might not show if you have set the toggle for “Do not disturb” to on. If the bell icon does not show, click the date and time to view your messages in the notification center. To go back to the long form of the date and time, go to Settings > Date and Time. Then turn on the toggle for “Show time and day in the system tray.” To show the bell icon, go to Settings > System > Notifications. Turn on the toggle for “Notifications.” You can also get to these settings using the context menu. Just right click the system tray clock or bell icon.
- [Touchscreen] New! This update adds a new section for touchscreen edge gestures. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch. There, you can choose if you would like to turn off the left or right screen edge touch gesture.
- [Mouse] New! This update adds the option to turn off enhanced mouse pointer precision to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Mouse. There is also a new option to change the direction in which the mouse scrolls.
[Task Manager]
- New! The Disconnect and Logoff dialogs now support dark mode and text scaling.
- New! The Performance section now shows the type for each disk.
- [Input Method Editor (IME)] New! After you install this update, the IME toolbar will hide when apps are in full screen mode. This only occurs when the IME toolbar is active, and you type Chinese or Japanese characters.
- [File Explorer] New! You can share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, you must install and configure Phone Link on your PC.
- [IFilters] New! Windows Search runs IFilters in Less Privileged App Containers (LPAC). LPACs are like app containers, but they deny more permissions by default. A process that runs in an LPAC only has access to the resources it needs. The process does not have access to sensitive system components and data. This reduces the potential damage that a compromised process can cause.
[Dynamic Lighting Settings page]
- New! Its page will show a placeholder message when there is no compatible device attached to your computer. Also, the Brightness and Effects controls will be off.
- New! This update adds the Forward, Backward, Outward, and Inward direction options to the Wave effect. The Gradient effect now has the Forward direction option.
- [Narrator] New! We have added new functionalities to Narrator scan mode. Skip past links (N’) allows you to navigate to the text after a link. This is most helpful when navigating through long emails, news articles, and wiki pages. Jump to lists (L’) allows you to quickly access a list on a web page or a document. To try these new features, you need to turn on Narrator first (Win key + Ctrl + Enter), then turn scan mode ON by pressing Caps Lock + Spacebar and finally use the new shortcuts – ‘N’ and ‘L’. Please note that scan mode is ‘ON’ by default on most web pages (like news articles, wiki page, etc.).
- [Speech in Windows] New! We have improved our speech-to-text and text-to-speech experience on Windows. Users of Narrator, voice access, live captions, live translations, and voice typing might see a message asking them to update their language files manually. The language files will be released separately through Microsoft Store.
- [Settings] New! Tailored Experiences is now Personalized offers in the out of box experience (OOBE). You can find it on the Recommendations and offers page. Go to Settings > Privacy & security. Here, you can turn off the setting that sends data about your device to enhance Windows.
And here are the changes available for all right away:
- [Motherboard replacement] Fixed: Windows does not activate after you replace a motherboard.
- [Country and Operator Settings Asset (COSA)] Fixed: This update brings profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.
- [Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) printer] Fixed: Windows stops responding when you use an IPP USB printer.
- [Bluetooth LE Audio] Fixed: Some devices, like hearing aids, do not stream Bluetooth audio.
You can find the announcement post on the official Windows Blogs website.